Global Pet Expo 2017, held March 22 to 24, in Orlando, Florida, USA, wrapped its thirteenth show with record-setting size during the three-day pet industry event. Global Pet Expo 2017 expanded the show floor to 343,700 square feet of exhibit space (nearly 24,000 feet larger than 2016), to accommodate the growing numbers of exhibiting companies, buyers and booths.
Global Pet Expo was presented by the American Pet Products Association (APPA) and the Pet Industry Distributors Association (PIDA).
The recent Global Pet Expo, dubbed this year as The Show That Means Business, experienced significant growth in total buyer attendance with 6,761 buyers, up more than 9.5 percent from 2016. There was a 22 percent increase in international buyer attendance from 2016. While 72 percent of buyers were domestic companies, more than a quarter of total buyers were from outside of the US, coming from 79 countries.
Giving the buyers thousands of new products and trends to choose from throughout the three-day show, were 1,130 exhibiting companies, including 270 first-time exhibitors. Exhibitors occupied more than 3,437 booths. Twenty seven percent of the exhibitors were international, making up 305 of the 1,130 exhibitors, up 30 percent from 2016.
Global Pet Expo 2017 pavilions
New this year was the debut of country-specific pavilions. Previously, multiple countries exhibited together in one space on the show floor, but this new international model allowed participating country delegations dedicated space throughout the exhibit floor. Separate pavilions for Great Britain, Canada, China and Taiwan allowed these delegations to highlight their country branding and showcase their companies and products.
This year’s Global Pet Expo Academy had more than 1,600 attendees, a 23 percent increase over 2016. Managed by PIDA, the 2017 seminar lineup featured 29 different seminars from 16 expert instructors in the fields of marketing, social media and technology, merchandising, management, personnel and retail operations.
Additionally, PIDA unveiled an updated marketing program at the show built around the theme of The Power of D, Growth through Distribution. Along with their seminars, PIDA worked to educate those new to the pet industry or any who’ve yet to work through a distributor, to better understand the value proposition of the manufacturer-distributor relationship.
New product launches at Global Pet Expo 2017
Global Pet Expo 2017 had nearly 1,000 entries in the newly designed 30,000 square-foot New Products Showcase alone. Now in its seventh year, the New Products Showcase awards presentation was a highlight. The “Best in Show” ceremony took place on the show floor where awards were handed out to Best in Show, Second and Third place winners across nine categories. Primetime Petz LLC took home the top prize in the Cat category with their new “Catysmile Backpack Cat Carrier” and West Paw Design took home top Dog category award with their new “Qwizl treating toy. With more entrants than ever, buyers narrowed down top picks to determine the winners. Visit the press center on GlobalPetExpo.org for a full list of the New Products Showcase winners.
