Mars Australia & New Zealand has appointed Karim Lokhandwala as its new chief customer officer of Petcare, commencing 1 June. The news comes as applications open for the company’s Next Generation Pet Food Program with Big Idea Ventures – now in its third year.
Big Idea Ventures and Mars Petcare’s Next Generation Pet Food Program is a global platform for advancing sustainable solutions in pet nutrition, focused on identifying and scaling the next generation of breakthrough technologies. This year the program is run in collaboration with industry leaders AAK, Bühler, Givaudan, and Ingredion.
The program is seeking startups with groundbreaking low carbon materials that can be applied to pet food, with a strong focus on alternative proteins, fats, oils and novel ingredients. The Mars Petcare Raws4Paws Accelerator is investing in innovation and searching for the next generation of suppliers to help source the best ingredients to support healthy pets and help address concerns about ingredient accessibility, security, sustainability and changing consumer behavior in the pet industry.
Mars Pet Nutrition VP R&D, Elisabetta Pierangelo, said the company is committed to exploring new technologies and scaling innovation that could reduce the environmental impact of pet food.
“Through previous cohorts, we’ve uncovered promising new solutions and seen transformative technological developments. I’m eager to build on that momentum and witness the breakthroughs this year’s program will unlock.”
The initiative connects innovators from the human food space to the pet food industry and provides expertise from global leaders to help accelerate their path to market. Over the past two years, the program has generated valuable insights into emerging technologies with several of the startups now testing concepts that could play a key role in shaping the future of sustainable pet food.
Big Idea Ventures founder and managing general partner, Andrew D. Ive, said the organisation’s work with Mars Petcare and partners has evolved into a focused engine for identifying and scaling the next generation of pet food ingredients.
“We are connecting high-quality startups with the corporations that can actually support these innovations to market, particularly across alternative proteins, fats, and novel ingredients,” said D. Ive.
“The priority now is not just discovery, but accelerating adoption and creating a more efficient path to commercial reality. With Asia playing an increasingly important role, this is about building a global system that consistently delivers better, more sustainable ingredients at scale.”
Selected companies will benefit from expert guidance, potential commercial partnerships, $15,000 and the opportunity to showcase their solutions at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore.
The 2026 program is open to global applicants, with a strong preference for scalable solutions based in or focused on the Asia-Pacific region. Applications are now open online at bigideaventures.com.
New Mars Petcare ANZ CCO
In his new role, Lokhandwala will oversee Mars Petcare’s sales organisation, with a focus on driving bold growth for the company’s renowned Petcare brands including Pedigree, Whiskas, Mydog and Dine.
“Mars Petcare has a unique combination of category leading brands, strong values and clear ambition that presents an incredible opportunity to lead the next phase of category growth in pet food,” said Lokhandwala.
“I’m excited to work closely with our customers to drive disproportionate category growth and build solutions that delight pets, pet parents and retailers across ANZ.”
With over 15 years at Procter & Gamble, Lokhandwala brings extensive experience in senior sales and leadership roles across multiple markets. His global experience spans Pakistan, the Middle East and ANZ, across senior roles in sales, corporate strategy and commercial leadership.
Mars Petcare ANZ managing director and general manager, Melodie Nye, said Lokhandwala is a highly experienced leader with a strong long term strategic lens on building category leadership.
“He inspires teams to think differently and challenge traditional growth models, which is essential for us as we continue to evolve our own business to better meet the changing needs of pet parents,” said Nye.
“He brings a powerful combination of commercial edge and customer focus, translating consumer insights into strategies that accelerate growth and deliver meaningful value for pet parents.”
