Selex will be present at Zoomark 2023 fair. Marco Tombolesi, category manager for Selex Group shop, announced: ‘We will certainly be visitors also because this edition promises to be the richest ever in terms of number of exhibiting companies and because, after the parenthesis of Covid, it will represent the first real appointment in the sector, with many new proposals announced by various players in both food and non-food worlds’.
Development factors
Animali che Passione is the sign dedicated to pet shop of Selex Group, with a network of 12 stores for a total area of 4,610 m2. Animali che Passione is the sign of the main pet shop in the stores of Il Gigante and Mercatò, while it becomes the pay off in the case of Elite Pet. Marco Tombolesi disclosed: ‘We expect that 2023 will also be a positive year for the pet food sector, albeit at a more contained rate than the growth we saw during the Covid period and the one immediately following. Despite the inflationary pressure that is eroding purchasing power both on household spending and on that of pets, we believe that there are at least three types of factors that will determine a good overall performance’.
In fact, the number of animals adopted during the pandemic period has now permanently entered the reference families. This means good quality food, but also a keen eye on accessories and toys. Finally, the lengthening of the average life of animals, a trend that has already been underway for some years, leads to different choices as for food for senior pets, often dietetic, which ‘has a positive impact on the entire sector’, as the category manager underlined. ‘On the other hand, the channels where the shopping for one’s pet is done will have to be monitored. We expect greater overlap between physical and online purchases, and between specialized channels compared to large-scale distribution’.
Watch out for innovation
Marco Tombolesi told: ‘Innovation, as in all sectors, has a fundamental role and will have it not only in the food sector, where the dynamics we see in the human food market are increasingly translated into that of pets (just consider natural, organic, grain /gluten Free, free-from products), but we expect an innovative impulse also in terms of animal well-being, especially for toys and accessories’.
The role of behaviourist veterinaries
Taking care of one’s pet also means paying attention to its behaviour, thanks to such figures as educators and behaviourist veterinarians. ‘These subjects will have an important impact over time, which will affect the pet shop assortments: the presence of toys on the shelf, starting with those for mental activation (not only for puppies, but also for older dogs), or the availability of accessories with greater performance in terms of materials and durability over time’.
