International pet industry event, Zoomark 2021 took place in Bologna, from 10th – 12th November, bringing together more than 450 exhibitors, from 44 different countries. A biennial show, the last edition was in 2019 and 2021 marked its 19th edition. Zoomark was the only international pet industry tradeshow in Europe that took place in person in 2021.

Elodie Rouarch, Symrise Pet Food EAME Marketing & Communication Manager, went along. Meat, sustainability, naturality… she sums up the three main trends at the show and shares her observations on one particular trend that continues to amaze her.

 

 

The three main trends observed at Zoomark

 

1. All around meat

First of all, there were many product claims around “meat”. Brands want to show the high nutritional and quality benefits of their products.

They highlight this in different ways: fresh or true fresh meat, meat as the first ingredient, animal monoprotein and 0% of dry meat, which means there is no meal included.

 

2. Sustainability

Another noticeable, big trend is sustainability. There are different approaches to solving this big challenge. Some brands communicate on the packaging using descriptors e.g., recyclable or eco pack; others promote their new recipe with alternative raw materials like insect, vegetal ingredients, or no meat/no fish; and some mention the local sourcing of ingredients.

 

3. Naturality

The third trend remains naturality with, for example, products making the 100% Natural or “NO” claim: no gluten, no wheat, no artificial colour/flavour, no preservatives, no GMO etc. Naturality could also come from animal breeding conditions like Free Run Chicken.

 

 

Humanization of pet products everywhere

 

All the human products & technologies adapted for our favorite four-legged companions continue to amaze us. Humanization was very evident at Zoomark with, for example, the GoPro for pets, Advent calendars or the famous Italian cake Panettone for Christmas.

 

Last but not least, there was an incredible website offering a special music library that only cats are able to hear.

Take-home points

  • Identification of three of the main trends: “Around meat”, Sustainability and Naturality
  • All around meat: companies highlight the nutritional and quality benefits of their products through “real meat”.
  • Sustainability: brands answer this big challenge through several approaches (packaging, sourcing)
  • Naturality: this trend is still answering consumer expectations with different claims (“Free from”, “no-“, “with natural”)