ZOOMARK INTERNATIONAL is ready to welcome visitors from all over the world to the in-person event in Bologna from 10 to 12 November, doing so in the best possible way by proposing a digital preview in the form of ZOOMARK DIGITAL SESSION, online from November 3-9.
450 exhibitors, 60% from outside Italy from 40 different countries, qualify beyond expectations for the sector’s first international trade event in Europe–organized by BolognaFiere with the support of Assalco (National Association of Pet Food and Pet Care Companies), ANMVI (National Association of Italian Veterinary Doctors), the Emilia-Romagna regional administration and the Operational Secretariat of Promopet.
Thanks to a major organizational commitment, ZOOMARK INTERNATIONAL returns as an in-person event, bringing forward to November 2021 the trade fair that was initially postponed until May 2022 due to the pandemic emergency. This decision was taken in agreement with the ZOOMARK Steering Committee, which was set up to further strengthen dialogue with the key players in the market and to share strategies and objectives.
The November 2021 event is an important moment for reflection and strategic business planning, a platform for kick-starting a sector that has shown great flexibility and capacity for innovation even in the recent difficult period.
The 2021 edition will feature an exceptional number of new products, a packed program of conventions and meetings and a new exhibition layout that combines functionality with compliance with anti-Covid regulations that will allow exhibitors and operators to experience the days of the exhibition in complete safety.
Four pavilions at the BolognaFiere Exhibition centre will be involved: 25, 26, 29, 30 and the Mall area of the latter.
The layout has been upgraded with respect to the initial plans, with stands and routes that are safe and easy to reach through the two available entrances: Piazza Costituzione and the North Entrance.
ZOOMARK INTERNATIONAL will be full of new proposals, starting with the brand new formula of the Innovation Area: the exhibition’s traditional showcase this year has evolved into “Pet Vision," a space dedicated to products with an extraordinary preview of what visitors will find inside the pavilions and organized based on the emerging trends for new lifestyles and relationships with pets.
Passion, enthusiasm and care are hallmarks of the organizers’ work in preparing this edition of the event to offer exhibitors a high-quality experience, and for visitors, the best solutions and products that have evolved during the most difficult months of the pandemic, in which pets have acquired more and more space in families.
Thanks to digital technology, the fair is also expanding its boundaries and areas of usability: Zoomark Digital Session, in the week leading up to the event (3 to 9 November), offers a digital platform for meetings between exhibitors and international buyers, distributors and retailers in the specialized and grocery retail channels.
The platform, hosted on B2Match (//zoomark-digital-on-site.b2match.io/), is already active and allows users to create their own exhibitor or buyer profile. As of October 18, it was possible to view the list of registered companies and operators and select those of interest thanks to advanced search filters in order to compile a personalized agenda, schedule meetings to take place in digital form from November 3 to 9 and arrange in-person appointments in Bologna during the days of the exhibition.
The long period during which in-person events were suspended has heightened the anticipation for ZOOMARK INTERNATIONAL and also for the conferences and seminars that have always been a traditional strong point of the event.
The exhibition will open on November 10 with the inaugural conference presenting the 14th edition of the Assalco-Zoomark Report, which will provide an analysis of the market and the main socio-cultural trends in the pet world in Italy. At the end of the presentation of the Report, representatives from the political and institutional world will make further contributions at a round table on the protection of pets and related economic and fiscal policies.
On the same day, there will be an in-depth session dedicated to rapidly evolving distribution channels such as Grocery Retail and the development of private labels in the pet sector, which will be the focus of a discussion developed in collaboration with the international organisation IPLC Retailer Brand Specialists.
The program of events is rounded off by focus sessions and meetings about foreign markets, developed with partners such as Euromonitor and ICE-Agenzia. Still on the subject of market scenarios, the Chinese market–in the run-up to CIPS (the China International Pet Show)–will be the subject of a webinar on November 3 as part of the first day of Zoomark Digital Session. A specific joint initiative between Zoomark International and Interzoo to introduce the Italian and German markets to Chinese operators will take place on the opening day of CIPS on November 17. The focus of attention at Zoomark International 2021 will also be on health, an extraordinarily topical issue following the increases in the pet population, to which seminars and meetings promoted by E.V. and PetAcademy will be dedicated.
