ROYAL CANIN? Individualis?, How We’ve Fused Vet Expertise With The Power Of Data

It’s a simple but vital concept that guides veterinarians the world over: every pet is different, and each dog and cat require individualized health care.

Royal Canin has always strived to support vets in their mission by developing advanced nutrition solutions for pets. We rely on the latest in veterinary medicine and state-of-the-art technology to match our products as closely as possible to different breeds, sizes, ages, and susceptibilities to pathologies. And yet there was one final frontier that we knew we still had not reached — until now.

We’re so pleased to share a breakthrough that’s arrived after a decade of painstaking R&D, as Royal Canin is now finally able to fully apply to pet nutrition that vet’s mantra of individualized care. We’ve called this revolutionary health solution ROYAL CANIN? Individualis?, a sub-brand that will be visible at the 2021 Viva Technology event.

The avant-garde of AI

Fusing the latest veterinary know-how with cutting-edge artificial intelligence applications, we’re embarking on a program that holds the power to revolutionize animal health by providing each pet with exactly the blend and quantity of nutrients that are right for him or her.

ROYAL CANIN? Individualis? algorithm goes beyond breed, weight, and age, and helps vets design a diet that responds to the uniqueness of every cat and dog in the world.

We began in 2010 with meticulous scientific research, built on the unprecedented application of data science and advanced technology to serve pet nutrition. A uniquely qualified cross-discipline team – including engineers, nutritionists, mathematicians, vets, and software developers — worked with the science and mathematics departments of several top universities to develop the program, which was then tested rigorously for three years in more than 100 veterinary clinics.

As Royal Canin’s Chief Digital Officer, I am particularly proud that we are at the avant-garde in the industry in unlocking the power of data to improve our health outcomes to each cat and dog. Through ROYAL CANIN? Individualis?, we have been starting a data-driven adventure where we only use 20% of available information about pets. With the arrival of quantum technology, and access to and processing of 100% data items around a pet and its environment, we will be able to go beyond in our healthcare journey. For example, we will be able to calculate if a cat has a potential future risk of kidney disease in milliseconds rather than multiple weeks. Individualization will be achieved not by characteristics, but by a pet’s actual microbiome itself, and its bio make-up. It’s a bespoke, individualized, easy-access nutritional program for each cat and dog.

We know from our veterinarian partners that changing a pet’s diet can help treat a variety of conditions, including diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and obesity. Vets have always sought to adapt nutritional intake to the pet’s pathologies and risk factors.

More than one risk

But the task has always come with a fundamental problem: how do you change a pet’s diet when they develop more than one condition? The risk is always to give precedence to one pathology at the expense of others, possibly neglecting or aggravating them. You may prioritize the treatment of diabetes in your nutritional program, for example, and leave chronic kidney disease behind.

Today, ROYAL CANIN? Individualis? algorithm helps vets design a diet that responds to multiple pathologies and/or risk factors. This new solution also encompasses all of the pet’s characteristics: not just breed, gender, age, or weight, but also those that veterinarians can factor in driving thousands of potential unique recipes for each cat and dog.

As we will share during the 2021 edition of Viva Technology in Paris, the result of ROYAL CANIN? Individualis? is a calibrated, individualized nutritional program: an assembly of nutritious primary elements selected for the pet, providing a complete diet that supports its specific needs with sources of optimal quality proteins and nutrients.

Vets in charge

Of course, ROYAL CANIN? Individualis?is only possible thanks to the most qualified experts on pet health needs that the world can offer: veterinarians. We provide ROYAL CANIN? Individualis? as an extra tool for them to assist pet owners even more efficiently, and the program will only be available through veterinarian recommendations.

Participating vets will be able to run a pet nutritional assessment that takes as little as 90 seconds. They then feed their results into an innovative, secure online platform developed by Royal Canin. An algorithm then processes the information to formulate a tailor-made blend that caters to each of the pet’s nutritional needs. Thus, the vet’s expertise and familiarity with the health of each pet is combined with Royal Canin’s nutritional knowledge to create an individualized solution. For owners, this reinforces the vet’s position as the single most trusted source of information about their pets.

Global rollout?

The response to the first rollouts in the past two years in France, Germany, and Japan has been extraordinary. The timing of the launches throughout Europe in the coming months also coincides with our upcoming post-pandemic reality. We know that pet owners ever more are looking for exclusivity, convenience, and security; and with ROYAL CANIN? Individualis?, they can order the specialized diet online through the vet and receive it at home, at the vet’s practice, or at other pick-up points.

In some way, ROYAL CANIN? Individualis? is where our company was always bound to arrive, working for the past five decades to develop precise nutritional solutions to improve the health and well-being of each and every pet. We simply needed the power of technology to make this level of precision possible. But just as importantly, the new program is also the perfect manifestation of what we call the “economics of mutuality,” where investing in and learning from our partners is bound to serve the interests of all.

This article is part of a series of articles published in connection with the annual Viva Technology event, Europe’s biggest startup and tech event, which is taking place online and in-person, in Paris, from June 16 to 19. Share, comment, and like on LinkedIn with the hashtag #VivaTech