On the advance with premium

Download: On the advance with premium (PDF file)At Bosch Tiernahrung, a rosy future is being predicted for the small animal business: "The trend in the last few years and in our opinion also for the future is that the number of small animals will continue to grow. People prefer small animals because they are easy to handle and to take with them on vacations, other visits etc.," says export manager Jan Vos. Bosch Tiernahrung has a complete range of products for small animals and exports to more than 35 countries. "Countries with major expansion are eastern European countries like Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania etc. And the Far East, for example Japan, is doing very well," Jan Vos continues. The feedback from Dutch supplier Beaphar is positive too: "Small animals are growing in popularity and so is the trend towards providing high-quality food." And at Trixie Heimtierbedarf, product quality is considered a basis for steady growth: "The small animal segment is certainly the one that has exhibited the most lasting growth in the pet accessories field," says export manager Boy Tadsen. "We began to position ourselves with an extensive range at a very early stage and aim to offer small animal hutches of above-average quality to enable retailers to attract consumers to this range with interesting and high-grade products."It's no surprise, then, that the international market is regarded as especially important at Ferplast too. "Exploring new needs and trying to give bigger areas and cages to the animals, along with reasonable prices, is our main target," according to the company. Bunny Tierernährung gives the retail trade additional support with a training concept that communicates specialist and factual information to pet product vendors. This information can then be used in the sales pitch.Trade and industryIn the speciality trade, small animals are considered the key attraction for families with children. Until recently, very little had changed over the years in the way the animals were presented: enclosures were mostly open at the top and secured to stop people from reaching into them. But now some speciality chains have gone over to integrating small animal enclosures into the shopfitting layout. Pets at Home creates free-standing islands with such enclosures, which are structurally separate from the rest of the retail area. The German speciality chain Kölle Zoo has switched to designing its small animal enclosures along the lines of a farm. This is…