Rising stars

Well done, Zoomark! The pet supplies trade show in Bologna has further improved its format and has had praised heaped upon it by visitors and exhibitors for doing so. "That is now Interzoo format," commented the enthusiastic managing director of one German exhibitor on the Tuesday of the fair. Trade visitors who spoke to PET worldwide at the fair were also complimentary about the amazing appearance of the new show halls. In fact, the presentations by many exhibitors at Zoomark were on a scale and of a quality only otherwise seen at Interzoo. Companies were also delighted by the international spread of attendees at Zoomark, which had increased again, although exhibitors concurred in the view that there were fewer buyers than previously from the USA and Canada. Apart from that, however, most of the world seemed to be in Bologna: plenty of Europeans as well as players from the Arab countries, from Asia and even from Australia.
The new midweek format appeared to go down well with exhibitors and trade visitors alike. Whether it was the right decision to stage the fair only on working days will only be clear from the final show figures, which were not available by the time of going to press. However, the exhibitors were pretty unanimous in their assessment that the show had been a resounding success - a success that can be built on in the future.
Anyone not present in Bologna was surely attending the Global Pet Expo, the leading US pet supplies fair. Its organisers also court trade visitors from across the globe and they were able to present good closing figures. The Global Pet Expo benefits strongly from the dynamic development and growth potential of the American pet supplies market. Although leading speciality chains and internationally active companies from Europe and Asia are represented there, Americans, Canadians and visitors from Central and South America always make up the majority of those attending. In spite of this, the show is extremely interesting for Europeans and Asians, because the USA is the world's biggest pet product market. It is also the source of many trends, especially with regard to dog and cat food, which then spread around the world.

In short, while Interzoo may be the world's leading pet supplies fair, the…