The Second India International Pet Trade Fair 2008 organized by Creature Companions, was held from February 29th - March 2nd in New Delhi at NSIC, Okhla Industrial Area. The show has been well supported by the international marketing research company Euromonitor.

IIPTF 2008 was the biggest Pet Fair launched in South Asia with some of the world’s most popular brands being part of it. India’s only pet trade fair IIPTF focused on a gathering of pet professionals from all over India and abroad. It was an excellent opportunity for all those associated with the pet industry in India to interact with dealers, distributors, retailers and marketing experts from various parts of the world. At the same time, IIPTF 2008 gave a golden opportunity to foreign manufacturers, exporters, dealers and retailers to explore the Indian pet market and interact with potential buyers for their brands and products. With the government policies bent in favour of foreign imports, the show provided a platform to explore possible opportunities in India.

IIPTF-2008 had 49 exhibitors including those from Singapore, Poland and China. Indian buyers from all parts of the country and 100 foreign buyers from 21 countries attended the fair. In all the show had around 15000 footfalls.The exhibitors taking part in the fair were of two types — business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). The B2B ones included Indian pet product manufacturers and foreign manufacturers looking for Indian partners and Indian distributors. Meanwhile, the B2C exhibitors displayed products targeting the Indian middle-income pet lovers.

The Indian government is yet to recognize the pet sector and its growth. The pet industry has immense potential in India as the sector still remains unexplored and is likely to expand in the coming few years. The only department recognized by the Indian government so far is animal husbandry and IIPTF aims at bringing the pet industry in focus. The event attempted to bring the government’s recognition to the hidden potential of the pet industry and distinguish it as a commercial sector.

The Indian pet industry is developing at the rate of 10-15 percent annually. Indian markets are still fairly new to this concept which makes them a favourable ground for potential players.
Pet owners explored various brands for pet food and accessories and assessed their nutrients, benefits and quality. They interacted with famous veterinarians, breeders, nutritionists, pet psychologists and voiced their opinions and suggestions.

Tradeindia, the online media partner for IIPTF-2008, also exhibited its products and services to a large target audience. Curious domestic and international visitors attended the Tradeindia booth to know about the portal's products and services. Tradeindia representatives interacted with them and gave them Tradeindia Exim CD Roms and collected their company profiles. This event gave Tradeindia a platform to explore and meet the emerging pet market key players. The visitors who wanted to network with quality suppliers listed in our portal expressed their interest to register their companies with Tradeindia. In a nutshell, at this unique event, we fulfilled our mission of reaching out to and interacting with potential suppliers and buyers. Our representatives distributed the Tradeindia yellow bags amongst the visiting members who heartily accepted them and carried their stuff in them on all days of the show.