2015 Global Pet Expo Report
By Craig Bolton

On March 5th and 6th I attended the annual Global Pet Expo trade show in Orlando, Florida at the Orange County Convention Center. This is the first time that Federated has attended this show. I was fortunate enough to find a very reasonable hotel within walking distance of the show so I figured with it being 84 degrees; the walk over would do me good. Turned out I should have re-thought that plan, because once I got into the show I realized it was HUGE. There were 3,113 different supplier booths and I was one of 6,010 buyers in attendance. This show caters to the local pet store owner to large retail chains to importers and exporters. By the end of day one my feet were killing me!

My goal for the show was to source new possible suppliers for all pets, focusing mainly on branded and Private Label opportunities for pet food and litter. I had the chance to see many types of suppliers, each with their own twist on pet products in all categories including Pet food, Litter, Aquatic (hundreds of fish were on display in 60+ aquariums), Small Animal, Pet Nutrition, Pet Treats and Pet Grooming…from the smallest creatures to the biggest horse.

There were many walking your dog clean up bags and some even with hand sanitizers included. One supplier said they would even print a company logo on the bags if wanted. There were also 29 different seminar options with topics from store growth opportunities to marketing to social media and much more in-between.

Friday, I got my second wind and continued walking the show. My feet were up to the challenge but I can tell you it was good to sit down Friday night on the plane ride home. Overall, the show was a big success for us. We now have many different supplier contacts for an abundance of pet categories and products.

Here is a picture of one company selling shelters for different types of animals, in this case Roosters.