Throwback of GlobalPETS Forum Asia 2019

On November 19, 2019 the Global Pet Forum-Asia (GPFA) was held at the Intercontinental NECC Shanghai. This forum has brought together the world's top elites from pet industry in a grand gathering of ideas, cognitive upgrades, and in-depth communication with potential business partners.

Katya Witham: Global Pet Food and Beverage Industry Analyst at Mintel.

Katya first stated that the consumption trends in Europe foreshadow aspects of pet development trends and explained in detail.:biocomfort, overall happiness Index, green consumption.

Katya told us through data that in Europe, people are redefining the role they play in life and seeing them as their families.

She also introduced that humanization has led to increased demand for a wider range of pet products and services, including personalized and family-supplied pet food. Humanization trends and love of pet parents are blurring the line between pet food and human food.

Katya Witham states that 53% of consumers in Germany trust made-in-home-country products; 45% of consumers in Poland say that “without artificial ingredients” is a more important factor when they buy healthy food; in France they have 65% of consumers agree that if packaging explains the source of the ingredients, they are more likely to trust food / beverage products.

Pet owners will also look for clean labels to ensure product safety. 77% of Spanish pet owners agree that it is important to check the label of pet food to ensure there are no hidden ingredients (eg：added sugar, artificial seasonings)

She also introduced that LID (Limited Ingredient Diet) recipes provide true transparency and ultimate simplicity of labels.

Pet owners are developing growing interest in functional pet food in Europe.

35% of British pet owners are looking for functional benefits when purchasing pet food.34% of French pet owners are interested in buying pet food specifically designed for the evening. Forty-seven percent of German pet owners say it is important to keep up-to-date on the trends of healthy pet eating.

Innovative products with functional health benefits are more and more popular. Plant-based superfoods add credibility to functional food. Katya Witham predicts the next trend in functional pet products: addressing pet anxiety.

Green consumption: A circular view of sustainable development across the entire product life cycle requires suppliers to take action against consumers. Pet owners' views on ethics and sustainability are expanding.

In summary, using more transparent and concise product labels, focusing on food safety, pet foods with functional and natural ingredients are more popular in the European market.

Jacinthe Moreau: World Pet Association President

Analysis of US Pet Market Data:

The US pet market will reach $ 75.38 billion in 19 years, and millennials will become the largest pet owner in the United States. Jacinthe pointed out that according to APPA data, the US pet market in 2018 was about $72.6 billion, and it is estimated that it will reach $75.38 billion in 2019, with an annual growth rate of 3.9%. Among them, it is estimated that pet food will reach $31.68 billion in 2019, with an annual growth rate of 4.5%; supplies and OTC drugs will reach $16.44 billion, with an annual growth rate of 2.7%; pet care will reach $18.98 billion, with an annual growth rate of 4.8%; Living sales reached $1.97 billion, with an annual growth rate of -2.0%; other services (referring to pet services other than medical care, including services such as glooming, foster care, dog walking, training, etc.) reached $6.31 billion, with an annual growth rate of 3.3%.

US pet shop statistics:

Jacinthe also shared data on pet stores in the United States, with pet food accounting for up to 45.7%. She pointed out that the rapid development of e-commerce platforms and the improvement of retail agency services in the past two years have posed greater threats to pet stores.

Transcon CEO Sonya Kosta Di Nov

Under the barriers of protectionism, what issues should be paid attention to foreign trade exports.

Sonya pointed out that for a foreign trade company to export, it is required to obtain the certification of origin, and generally requires that the importing country send a full-time government inspector to the factory for on-site inspection; at the same time, it has obtained the product entry qualification of the importing country and Subsequent import clearance procedures must even take into account intellectual property issues, such as registered products or technology patents or brand trademarks.

However, different countries have different import policies. For example, the United States conducts strict sampling inspections of each batch of container products; Mexico has a relatively relaxed sampling inspection of imported products; Chile and Colombia have relatively complicated inspection processes. In addition, the difficulty of Singapore's imports is increasing recently, and the small package products in Japan can accommodate two or more languages for information presentation.

Jonathan Buxton：Oaklins Cavendish Partner, International Consumer & Retail Team Leader

He shared that the European pet care industry reached $ 28 billion in 2018, accounting for about 20% of the global market; about 70 million European families have at least one pet; from 2018 to 2022, the expected growth of the European pet food market is 3.6% The market is resilient to the business cycle; Europeans spend more on quality pet food, accessories and medical treatment due to humanization; and the leading distribution channels are still large / supermarkets (57%) and specialty retailers (35 %).

Among them, Europe's largest pet care and pet food market is the United Kingdom ($ 4.2 billion in sales in 2018), Germany ($ 4.2 billion), France ($ 3.7 billion), and Italy ($ 2.8 billion). In Europe, pet food is still dominated by Mars and Nestle (about 30% of the market), and sales of independent high-end brands are growing, especially in the United Kingdom and Spain, while France and Germany mainly buy Mars and Nestle and other retailers. There are brands. It is worth mentioning that online consumption in the UK continues to grow, while Germany and France tend to be high-end. From 2015 to 2018, nearly 5,000 new pet foods were launched in the UK, Germany, France and Italy alone.

Trends and growth:

High-quality products are the key to Italy. There are many smaller specialty pet stores that mainly sell quality products.

Opportunity: Small, professional pet stores are universal and successful. Also online sales is an opportunity.

In summary, many pet owners will take their pets to the store to experience in-store beauty and veterinary services. The European pet care market is an exciting area and offers many opportunities for Chinese companies and investors. In the long run, cooperation with European companies can help companies open markets in Europe.

Peter Tabor, U.S. Vice President, Regulatory and International Affairs for Pet Food (PFI)

A "reference template" for pet food regulation in China

Animal Food Preventive Control (PCAF) rules are the first FDA food safety regulations that apply only to animal food. The regulation was completed in 2015 and must be complied with by all US animal food producers. The rules were developed in collaboration with the FDA, food safety experts and academia, and related training courses were created. During the implementation process, the FDA implemented a grace period to allow all manufacturers to make timely and effective compliance with regulatory requirements to make adjustments. To cope with thousands of regulatory inspections each year, the FDA also trains state government personnel to ensure that PCAF rules can be more effectively inspected and enforced. For certain food production and processes with higher risks, the FDA will invest more testing and supervision manpower.