The21stPetFairAsia,whichreceivedmorethan140,000visitorsovertheweekend,closedonAugust26.Manypet-loverslikeXiaoattended,bringinglargesuitcasestofillwithglobalpetproducts.
Xiaotruststhequalityofimportedcatfood,as“bigforeignpetfoodsuppliersaremoreestablishedandhaveagoodreputation,”shesaid.
Morethan1,300exhibitorssetupboothsinthe140,000-square-meterexhibitionhall.
“Mydoghasaweakstomach,whichfooddoyourecommend?”askedZhangRan,amiddleagedShanghairesident,atRoyalCanin’sbooth.
BasedontheprofessionaladviceofferedbyLiXi,thecompany’svet,Zhangimmediatelyordered6kgofdigestivedogfoodforherbelovedBichonFrise.
Zhangsaidthatwhenshegotherdogeightyearsago,sheonlyknewoftwodifferenttypesofdogfood,oneforpuppiesandoneforadultdogs.Butnow,therearemoreandmorechoicesonthemarket,andshehastolearnaboutthedifferenttypesoffooddesignedfordifferentbreeds.
“China’spetfoodmarkethasseenanincreaseinproductsinrecentyearstocopewiththerisingdemandsofmiddle-classpetowners,”saidLi.
ThecompanyheworksforhasproducedmorethanadozenprescriptiondogfoodsfortheChinesemarket,aimingtohelpdogswithillnesseslikeliverorintestinalproblems.
AsChinesepeoplepursueahealthierandhappierlife,theyarewillingtolavishmoreontheirfurryfriends.Domesticpetfoodproducersarecatchingupwiththistrend,accordingtoZhaoHaiming,GeneralManagerofPure&Natural,aChinesepetfoodbrand.
“OurmarketresearchfoundthatpetownersinChinaareincreasinglybetter-informedregardingthehealthoftheirpetsandcloselychecktheingredientsandnutritionalinformationbeforebuyingpetfood,”saidZhao.“Wearedevelopingnewproductstocatchupwithconsumerneeds.”
AccordingtothePetIndustryWhitePaper2018publishedbyGoumin,aChineseonlinepetforum,China’scatanddogownersareexpectedtospendover5,000yuan($740)perpetin2018,anincreaseof15percentfromlastyear.Overall,thevalueofChina’scatanddogmarkethassurpassed170billionyuan($24.88billion).
Xiaosaidthatinadditiontocatfood,raisingapetincludesotherexpenseslikegrooming,vaccinationsandmedicaltreatment.Intotal,thecostoflookingafterhercatamountsto10,000yuan($1,463)peryear.
AmericancompanyLitterRobotbroughtanauto-cleaninglitterboxtothefair,whichallowslitterboxestobecleanedjustonceeveryfewweeks.
Accordingtothecompany’ssalesmen,morethan200unitsaresoldviaChinesee-commerceplatformseverymonth,eachcostingover5,000yuan.
TheWorldCatShowrecognizedbytheCatFanciers’Association(CFA),aglobalorganizationforpreservingpedigreecats,alsotookplaceduringthefair.
QianZheng,directorofthecatzoneofthePetFairAsia,saidthatover200purebredcatsattendedtheshow.QianisalsoaprofessionalbreederofPersiancats.
Shesaidthatnowadaysitisquiteeasytocontactprofessionalbreedersforconsultationviasocialmedia,but10yearsago,therewerefewsuchoptions.QianboughtherfirstPersiancatfromaforeignbreederviae-mail.
“Atthattime,noforeignbreederswerewillingtosellpurebredkittenstoChinesebuyers.Theydidn’tbelievethatwewouldtreatthecatswiththerightattitudeandcare,andrumorsabouttheChineseeatingcatscertainlydidn’thelp.”
Qiansaidthatshetriedhardtoconvincethebreederthattherewasnowayshewouldspendthousandsofdollarsonacatandnottreatitasbestshecould.
Now,asoneofthemostwell-knowncatbreedersintheindustry,Qian’sPersiancatshavewonfirstplaceinthePersian-bredcategoryattheCFAcatshowfortwoconsecutiveyears.
“FewChinesepetownersattendedtheCFAcatshowyearsago.Butnow,newfacesandnewkittensfromChinaappeareveryyear,”shesaid.
Qiancurrentlyowns20to30Persiancats,andthesefluffycompanionscostherbetween600,000($87,811)and700,000yuan($102,447)everyyear.
AccordingtoresearchbytheChinaAgriculturalUniversity,thepetindustrydevelopsrapidlywhenacountry’sGDPpercapitaisabout$3,000to$5,000.China’sper-capitaGDPwasaround$8,800lastyear.
AsAsia’slargesttradeshowforanimalsuppliesandaquariums,PetFairAsiastartedinHongKongbeforemovingtoShanghaiin1999,adecisionspurredbythegrowingdemandsoftheChinesemainlandmarket.
Sincethen,thescaleofthefairhasgrownexponentially,froma15,000-square-meterspaceinShanghaiMartin2003toawhopping140,000squaremetersintheShanghaiNewInternationalExpoCenterthisyear.
ThisisaneditedexcerptofanarticleoriginallypublishedbyXinhuaNewsAgency
CopyeditedbyLaurenceCoulton
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