A mood of optimism in Plovdiv

The traditional site of the Plovdiv fair is the stage for the annual Zoo-Revue.
ww.fairplovdiv.com
Compared with last year’s show, the number of exhibitors and visitors was substantially down. This was no surprise against the background of a rapidly rising cost of living for consumers and the associated slow growth in sales figures for companies: at the equivalent of 36 e per square metre, the price of exhibition space at the show was very high by Bulgarian standards. “Many trade and industry colleagues have decided to opt for attending the show every two years,” commented Ivan Antonov, proprietor of the Miazoo wholesale company in Varna. The same goes for consumers. With admission prices equivalent to a little more than1 e, most only attend on account of the pedigree exhibitions that are held in parallel with the show. Thus the fair was pretty empty on the Friday; only Saturday and the start of Sunday afforded some of the exhibitors any degree of satisfaction.
Inter Exotics from Sofia was the only supplier of aquatics products. Fish-keeping is a very difficult range to supply in Bulgaria.
One thing that was underlined especially clearly at the show was that imported premium pet food brands are gaining an ever greater share of the Bulgarian market. Royal Canin and Iams Pet Food were among those foreign manufacturers exhibiting on the stands of their importers. Evgeni Kostadinov, the general manager of Bove-3 Ltd in Sofia and importer of Iams Pet Food, estimates his active customer circle at 150 retailers, over 90 of whom are located in the capital Sofia. He has been importing the products for two years and is expecting further steady growth in the next few years. “We currently have a sales volume of eight tonnes per month,” says Evgeni Kostadinov. Sergey Volhonsky, the proprietor of SAM BS Ltd in Sofia and importer of Royal Canin since 1998 and also of Ferplast since the start of 2003, reports in a similar vein: “Our customers pay the price for the high quality of Royal Canin products, and these are the same customers that opt for Ferplast products.” Sergey Volhonsky cites growth figures of 20 per cent a year.
Bove-3 Ltd of Sofia imports all Iams Pet Food’s products. General manager Evgeni Kostadinov (left) anticipates steady growth for the next few years too.
The first nine months of 2003 have already been very good, according to Volhonsky, with 180 tonnes sold. Buildcom-E Ltd of Sofia presented foods from Bento Kronen and Versele Laga. The company was only…