Page 3 - PET worldwide issue 03/2022

Comment

A boost in motivation

for the pet sector

It all turned out well. 1 328 exhibitors from 59 some extent by the end of May. But as the saying
countries and 27 861 trade visitors from 129 coun- goes, who dares, wins – and WZF was rewarded for
tries helped to make Interzoo in Nuremberg a suc- its courage when Interzoo went ahead as planned
cess. The mood was excellent and upbeat; every- and was a huge success as well.
one seemed delighted to be able to visit a live show The pandemic was far from the only challenge
once more and meet business partners in person facing the Interzoo organiser this year, however.
again. The war in Ukraine that began on 24 February and
has shocked the world is not just a humanitarian
catastrophe; it has given rise to wide-ranging eco-
nomic consequences in recent months that will re-
verberate in the pet sector also for a long time to come.
Against this difficult background, Interzoo was
more important than ever before. Not only could
exhibitors and visitors form a current impression

“INTERZOO 2022 COULD GO DOWN IN THE
HISTORY OF THE PET SECTOR AS THE FAIR THAT,
NOTWITHSTANDING THE CURRENT PROB-
LEMS, HELPED TO PROVIDE A SIGNIFICANT
MOTIVATIONAL BOOST FOR THE FUTURE.”
It’s true that there were considerably more visi-
tors to the world-leading show four years ago. And
there were a lot more German trade visitors in par- of the state of the international pet sector, they could
ticular, who chose to stay away this year for what- openly discuss sensitive topics such as supply
ever reason. It is also the case that after two very chains, raw material shortages and logistical prob-
busy days, the visitor footfall on the last day of the lems. They also had lots of fun, because despite the
fair was pretty small. But isn’t the key takeaway major challenges, a lighthearted mood prevailed
the fact that the world’s number one pet supplies across the show grounds. After the difficult months
show in Nuremberg was able to take place at all in experienced during the pandemic, this was a tonic.
these difficult times? Was it not much more impor- Interzoo 2022 could thus go down in the history of
tant that the international pet sector could finally the pet sector as the fair that, notwithstanding the
meet up once more this year? current problems, helped to provide a significant
The organisation of this year’s Interzoo was no motivational boost for the future. It was great!
mean feat. It could all have turned out quite differ-
ently, too: at the end of January, when the Interzoo
organising body WZF took the bold decision to go
ahead with the fair despite a high incidence of coro-
navirus, it was by no means unlikely that this deci- Ralf Majer-Abele
sion might have to be reviewed. Although most vi-
rologists were already predicting that the pandemic Ralf Majer-Abele
would abate in the spring, no one was certain that
this would actually happen. It was impossible to Phone +49/72 43/575-230
foresee in the winter whether international trans- r.majer-abele@daehne.de
port connections would have been restored to

PET worldwide 3|2022 3

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