Learning from America

There’s been a lot of discussion in ­Europe in recent months about how lobbying in the pet supplies sector can be further improved, about how the sector can make itself heard more clearly in the political arena and so on.
In the USA, people don’t just talk about it – they act too. And the pet industry there has a far more powerful voice than in Europe, even in such an internationally weighty journal as Time Magazine. One of its recent issues featured an entire page devoted to the pet industry. “If the pet industry were tracked by the US government as a single entity, we’d be the seventh largest retail segment in the country,” was the quote by Bob Vetere, CEO of the American Pet Products Association (APPA), which was included in the magazine’s article. In Europe no-one would even to dare to think this way… When it comes to lobbying, representatives of the European pet industry can indeed learn a lot from their colleagues in the USA. Rather than just talking, it makes more sense to demonstrate clearly the huge potential that the industry harbours.

Where innovations are concerned, too, the USA continues to be the international pioneer in our sector with regard to many developments. The ongoing trend towards feeding dogs and cats on natural, holistic or grain-free food took hold in America three or four years ago. In Europe, it is still in its early stages. And the variety that exists with regard to toys, outdoor accessories and dog apparel has its roots in many cases in the USA.
What trends will shape the pet supplies sector of the future? What products will make the grade in the market? These are intriguing questions to which the upcoming Interzoo in Nuremberg might hold the definitive answers. For four days, Nuremberg, the Franconian metropolis in south-east Germany, will once again become the Mecca of the pet industry. Over 1 700 exhibitors are expected to be present at the world’s biggest pet supplies show. 300 companies are coming from China alone, impressively demonstrating the attraction of Interzoo for Asian exhibitors.
PET worldwide will also have its own stand at Interzoo, stand 335 in hall 1. You are cordially invited to drop by, no matter whether you want to find out about new products from our publishing house, fancy an informal chat or just want to say…