ORRVILLE, Ohio — The J.M. Smucker Company is a Northeast Ohio staple, delighting families with jams and jellies for well over a century. And they aim to please family pets too.

"When I talk to people about working at Smucker and tell them that work on pet food, there's always this reaction that indicates most people don't quite know,” said Illya Thomas, Smucker’s vice president of research and development for pet food.

That's right, Smucker makes Milk-Bone and Meow Mix. Inside the research and development lab, teams test texture and aroma to discover new ways to tempt the taste buds of dogs and cats, while making their humans happy too.

"Our innovations sometimes are either addressing a deficit by trying to solve some unmet need in the category, or it's trying to bring delight in so

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