Big in Japan

Under the motto “A happy and healthy life with pets”, 217 exhibitors from 20 different countries presented their products to an audience of trade visitors and consumers at the Interpets trade fair in Chiba, Japan. Show organisers Mesago Messe Frankfurt and the Japan Pet Food Association hailed the event in the Makuhari exhibition halls, which attracted around 40 000 visitors over four days, as an “outstanding success”. “Interpets is the first true international pet trade fair in Japan. Right from the start, the event attracted a great deal of attention internationally. The fair was indeed affected by the Great East Earthquake in March, but many international and Japanese exhibitors joined the fair, leaving comments of their high level of satisfaction with the event,” said a spokesperson for Mesago. Along with innovations and new products for pets, there were also many events, talk shows and seminars for visitors to Interpets that took place every day, such as “A Healthy Mind and Body Brought by Pets” and “Living Together with Pets”. Pet owners could also learn how to train their pets properly at various events. Praise from all sides Praise came not only from the visitors, who were entirely positive about the fair in blogs and on Twitter, according to the organisers. The exhibitors also appeared to be taken with the first Interpets: “All the companies decided to exhibit as they had high interest in the Japanese pet market. In addition, they intended to make contributions to the reconstruction from the earthquake. The goals for participation differed among the companies. One meant to promote its brands as it already has agencies, while another was trying to find a Japanese sales partner,” said Taeko Endo from Mission Economique-Ubifrance Bureau d’Osaka. Nadja Lutjohann from Flexi-Bogdahn International agreed with this assessment and added: “I see a lot of potential in the Japanese market and it was interesting to see the Japanese people make their pets wear clothes and take good care of what they eat. We were also delighted to find the impact on and response from the visitors.” The organisers also attribute the economic success of the pet market in Japan to social transition, such as a declining birth rate and growing proportion of elderly people, and the shift to a nuclear family. “The environment surrounding pets in Japan is still lagging behind Western countries, however. There is still a situation where people merely see the therapeutic aspect of pets…