IPIS Conference & Pet Fair Asia Shanghai exhibition report 2019

MBB #20190826 IPIS Conference & Pet Fair Asia Shanghai 2019 (1)

From 20 – 23 August 2019 I visited the IPIS Conference and the Pet Fair Asia in Shanghai.

My third visit to the Pet Fair Asia served mainly to deepen the contacts made in the past. At the same time, I wanted to gain a deeper insight into the regulatory situation as well as an overview of the current situation for European pet food manufacturers who want to import their products to China.

IPIS Conference

On the 20th of August, one day before the annual Pet Fair Asia, I had the choice between two conferences.

The first option – the Petfood Forum. This conference takes place annually at different locations around the world with changing topics. After my first visit to the Forum this June in Cologne, I decided on the second option.

The IPIS (International Pet Industry Summit) Conference took place for the 9th time. It is organized by APA (Asia Pet Alliance , the first trade organization in Asia dedicated to the pet industry.

The topics of the conference covered in particular developments on the Chinese market. A highlight from the western pet food world was the keynote by Torsten Toeller, who after a look at the history of his company “Fressnapf” also gave a very detailed insight into his strategy 2025.

All in all a worthwhile visit for all those who want to position themselves in the Asian market or even better.

Pet Fair Asia – Shanghai – 2019

In the following days from 21st – 23rd August my third visit to Pet Fair Asia followed. It is impressive to see how fast this fair has grown in the last years and how fast the offers expand. Also the quality of the products increases.

My fixed appointments served above all to deepen conversations with already known distributors. In each meeting, there was a great deal of interest in cooperation with European partners, albeit with different focal points, depending on the distributors’ orientation and sales channels.

In order to be able to enter the Chinese market at all, every manufacturer must first obtain two approvals:

GACC – Approval (General Administration of Customs China) is the general approval of a manufacturer for deliveries to China.
MOA – Approval (Ministry of Agriculture) refers to every single product to be imported into China.

This process can be done by the manufacturers themselves. However, discussions with many European exhibitors have shown that it makes sense to get the support of a Chinese partner. In most cases, this will be an agency. In addition to a few established ones, there are now also many who jump on the bandwagon because the market is growing enormously.

If you are interested in more details, please contact me for further information.

If you are interested in direct personal contacts, to agencies for registration or with distributors, I will gladly accompany you on an independent tour or take you to the next Pet Fair Asia 2020 from August 19th – 23rd at the latest next year.

Your Christian Köhler

PS: Follow me on LinkedIn to get the latest news and first-hand reports, often directly from the trade shows, immediately. https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-k%C3%B6hler-mbb/