Top international event

The many conference delegates from the manufacturing, retail and service segments of the pet product industry were unanimous in welcoming a forum in which it was possible at long last to exchange views on current topics. “Our sector has been lacking an event of this kind”, stressed the marketing director of one renowned supplier to the speciality trade, and this opinion was echoed by the other participants. In fact, many prominent operators in the pet product industry were represented at the 1st Pet Conference. The large number of attendees from the USA, Spain, the UK, France, Italy, the Benelux states, Austria and Switzerland made it clear that the conference had also attracted considerable attention outside Germany. The conference organisers, Dähne Verlag and the company B + P Management Forum, had chosen “Future strategies for the pet product retail trade” as the theme for the event, which was backed by main sponsor Iams Pet Food. The conference was also sponsored by Masterfoods and received support from Vitakraft-Werke too.
How will the pet product sector develop in the future? This question was just one of many subjects raised at the 1st Pet Conference.
Focus on logical concepts
“At this conference we wanted to give clear expression to the fact that, in spite of the difficult economic climate, the future holds opportunities and prospects for the pet product sector”, emphasised Ralf Majer-Abele, editor-in-chief of the pet trade magazine and PET in Europe, who chaired the conference. The programme was forward-looking, with the focus not on prices and margins for once, but on developing logical concepts that would help the sector. Thomas Brill, managing director of the German specialist retail chain Welke, appealed for greater creativity in the industry: “Successful brands are marker posts for consumers in the market, fixed stars that help guide the way to an uncertain future. Consumers turn their backs on brands if these no longer offer any clear orientation”. He referred to innovations as “the icing on the cake”. The Welke Group, which operates six pet product stores with sales areas of between 600 and 4,000 m², achieves 31 per cent of its sales with products that have a shelf life of up to three years.
Development in France and the UK
Gilles L’Heureux, who was director of expansion at the French speciality chain Animalis until recently, gave a detailed summary of the French pet product market and outlined the development of Animalis into a leading national…