Monge spa - Luciano Fassa

 luciano-fassa 

 

What expectations do you have for Zoomark, being held in person?

 

Staging Zoomark International in November 2021 is a tough but necessary call. Tough, because of the difficulties our country has been having rolling out the vaccination campaign. Necessary, because after such a long time, it's essential for an event like Zoomark to be seen and heard. The companies in the industry are looking forward to being physically present at the show and the same goes for the store owners: this generates positive momentum, and opportunities to interact and network. We are taking an necessarily optimistic view, and paying attention to the various factors that might affect the running of the show, from the date (November is not ideal, but it is probably the best compromise) to the code of conduct that will be drawn up and applied to ensure safety and compliance with anti-Covid precautions. Companies will need to prioritize investments to guarantee visitor safety, as well as curating the design of their stands: there will need to be very clear rules for exhibitors and visitors and we trust in the experience that BolognaFiere is gaining hosting other events.

 

 


The whole pet industry has seen an impressive increase in sales. Will this growth continue in 2021? And after that?

2020 took us by surprise, the increase in the number of pets was not something that anyone could have predicted - above all the scale of the increase, with about 500,000 dogs and 200,000 cats. This had positive effects on basically all of the companies in the pet industry, albeit with the ups and downs of the period, with the various lockdowns that for example meant the closure of stores inside shopping centres. More pets means that the uptick in consumption is here to stay, in 2021 and probably beyond, if the growth curve in pet ownership continues. I don't believe that we will see an increase in the number of animals being abandoned, as apart from in a few rare cases, fortunately this phenomenon is in strong decline. Going forward, the unknown quantity is how market dynamics will unfold. In terms of volume and value, the market will continue to grow, but the economic downturn could affect purchasing behaviour, above all when it comes to top of the range products. The developments of the coming months will show who has benefited the most from the increase in the number of cats and dogs.