General news

For the first time, the event was held for 2 days.

This year, at the BCC, besides the negotiations, Presentation Day for trends and novelties of the pet business was organized.

On the first day, the Business Contact Centre (BCC) gathered pet chains, distributors, and pet stores from over 20 regions of Russia and other countries worldwide.

The purchasers were «Vaka» («Biosphere»), «Yugkorm», «Lapa Lyubvi», «Bonifatsy», «Alidi West», «Mokry Nos», «Koshachy Rai», «Manul», «Stack Profi», «Smena», «Khvostaty Polosaty», «Aibolit», «Mechta Sobaki», «Vezdekhvost», «Zoomir» (Novosibirsk), «Flyuger» and more over 50 large zoo buyers.

The second day was dedicated to the largest Russian retailers. The negotiations were conducted by «Lenta», «Svetofor», Fixzone, «Real», «Dobronom» (Belarus), and «Lyubimchik. Ru», «Zoovygoda» (Kaliningrad), «Zooland» (Belarus), marketplace «Vse vmeste».

The negotiations at the Business Contact Centre were participated by delegations and representatives from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Czechia. The event was attended by the Honorary Consul of Pakistan and representatives of the Hungarian Consulate General in St. Petersburg.

For 2 days, in parallel with the negotiations, the Business Contact Centre hosted presentations by suppliers of new products in the pet business.

On February 26, the presentation of «Two Tails», a new Russian brand of cat and dog food, took place to be held by the famous TV presenter and video blogger Mikhail Shirvindt, the ideological inspirer of the brand.

In St. Petersburg and the regions, unlike Moscow, small-sized businesses are not ready for the ESG agenda, especially with regard to animal protection issues.

This was stated by Natalia Avlasevich, Head of the «Devoted Heart» Charitable Foundation, at the Round Table «Optimal Unification Strategy for the ESG Agenda Implementation and New Meanings Generation Through Marketing» to be held at EXPOFORUM as part of the International Business Exhibition of Goods and Services for Animals «Zooindustry 2025». «Business knows well that it is necessary to help people, but it understands to a much lesser extent that helping animals is also part of the ESG agenda», she explained.

Not all companies are ready for the social agenda and, consequently, only part of them implement it. However, according to Andrey Ponomarev, Head of the Project Management Department at the «Nika» Charitable Foundation, as soon as business realizes its desire to grow and starts looking for growth points, the social agenda becomes relevant. He agreed that most of the major charitable initiatives are implemented in Moscow, as there is higher concentration of large businesses there.

Andrey Ponomarev shared his experience, stating that usually, it is large companies that have a developed strategy for social responsibility, so it is easier for charitable foundations to build a fruitful dialogue with them. Herewith, as he noted, charitable foundations can help companies shape their social agenda.

«A company often wants to do something in this area, but does not know how and what exactly, as it has no appropriate expertise. But charitable organizations have it, which can help with filling out the social strategy», explained Andrey Ponomarev.

He advised that companies can be encouraged, for example, to identify two or three social issues to be most relevant to their own employees, and then people will gladly participate in charity events.

For working successfully, charitable organizations should come to various companies with different offers, as businesses have different objectives. For example, major companies are interested in large-scale system projects, while small- and medium-sized companies are interested in projects aimed at increasing brand loyalty or recognition, says Andrey Ponomarev. It is also very important that charitable organizations speak to businesses in a language that the latter understands, i.e. the language of numbers. «A charitable organization does not give the company a business plan for the project, but must provide the marketing description of what exactly it will get as the result of its implementation», said Andrey Ponomarev.

He believes that in Russia, the alliance of business and charitable organizations generally has a future.

«Russia has always had the culture of patronage. There is no doubt about participating in charity projects. But there are the questions what exactly and how to do it», says Andrey Ponomarev. He also noted that «it becomes increasingly important for people whether a particular brand has a social agenda. According to the statistics, the presence of the latter increases sales by 5%».

In recent years, the e-commerce market has been growing at a record pace, due to marketplaces among other ways. Aleksander Kolchin, Director of Content at the Information and Publishing Centre «Zooinform» and Business Coach for Sales, spoke about efficient tools for increasing the market share of pet stores at the International Business Exhibition of Goods and Services for Pets «Zooindustry 2025».

In his speech «How pet stores can win in the confrontation with marketplaces», Aleksander Kolchin recalled that at the beginning of 2020, few people were interested in purchasing goods on marketplaces, but because of the quarantine, sales increased significantly in May, and goods for pets were no exception.

«And in 5 years, marketplaces have made a revolution. This is a major sales channel and competitor for many industries», said Aleksander Kolchin.

The expert cited the statistics provided by the research company «Nielsen», according to which the online trading channel remains the fastest growing, but its growth has been slowing recently. If in November 2023, the share of online sales in monetary terms was 41%, in October 2024, it was already 22%. In 2025, Aleksander Kolchin predicts the stabilization of this segment. The calculations consider not only marketplaces, but also online pet store platforms.

According to Aleksander Kolchin, besides fast delivery and a wide range of products, marketplaces have a lot of vulnerabilities. Counterfeits and low-quality goods may be presented on marketplaces.

«A marketplace with a trillion-dollar turnover, registered as an IT company, is not always responsible for counterfeit and low-quality goods. The same situation applies to product certification. The marketplace requires a scanned copy of the document or its number from the supplier, but it is not possible for the marketplace to verify its authenticity in relation to all products presented there», says Aleksander Kolchin.

Moreover, marketplaces are not members of the system «Honest Sign». «When accepting the goods, they can check the presence of the mark, but cannot check either its validity or compliance with the category, or to whom this mark was issued», he adds.

For strengthening their position in the market, Aleksander Kolchin recommended pet stores paying attention to their own strengths. If you look at the structure of the four types of products presented in the market (cat food, dog food, animal litters and treats), their share differs depending on the sales channel: pet stores, modern retail (supermarkets) and online. So, in pet stores, people most buy treats — 9.1% (supermarkets — 3.5%, e-commerce — 1.8%). This is due to the fact that this product category is an emotional purchase, and such purchases are more often made offline, plus the goods are located in the cash-register area. In this regard, Aleksander Kolchin recommended strengthening this position.

Another product category worth paying attention to is litters, sales of which are approximately the same online and in pet stores (9.5% and 10%, respectively). «There are an average of 27 SKUs per store, which means that people want not only to buy, but also to see the assortment structure. At some outlets, it is possible to see the shape and size of the pellets», he said.

The share of sales of cat food online and in pet stores is approximately the same (54.5% and 56.4%, respectively), so the product range can be expanded, he added.

The online segment has seriously overtook other sales channels in the dog food category. According to the expert, the reason is obvious: in most cases, the packages are very heavy, and the possibility of delivery plays a crucial role in this matter. In this regard, he advised organizing at the pet store online sales and fast delivery, for the purpose of providing the same usability as marketplaces do. Another option is selling feed by weight. In general, the most popular pet supplies in online sales are dry food and litters, which is again explained by the convenience of delivery.

Advantages of pet stores over marketplaces are high-quality products and proper storage of the goods, as well as live communication with consultants. «Improving the pet-owner communication service will be the trump card of offline stores», added the expert. For increasing sales, he also advised holding events with invited experts and sweepstakes.

The only method of diagnostics and treatment of undesirable food reactions in cats and dogs is the elimination diet, since there are no laboratory methods for differentiating food allergies and intolerance reactions, as well as identifying food allergens. This was stated by Vladimir Ruppel, a veterinarian, Candidate of Veterinary Sciences, in his report «Food intolerance and food allergies: what you need to know» at the International Business Exhibition of Goods and Services for Pets «Zooindustry 2025».

He recalled that in medicine, undesirable food reactions (UFR) mean individual atypical reactions occurring in response to the use of a particular food component. Food allergies, food intolerances, and poisoning are types of UFR.

According to Vladimir Ruppel, UFR is most often caused by food, and the list of dangerous foods for dogs is much longer than that for cats. So, UFR in dogs can be caused by all types of meat, fish, cow’s milk, chicken eggs, cheese, soy, as well as all commercially available feeds, since they contain various proteins. UFR In cats, however, most often occurs after eating beef, dairy products, and fish.

The clinical picture of UFR In both dogs and cats is similar and may be accompanied by gastrointestinal disorders, skin manifestations, as well as a combination of both. Meanwhile cats have no pedigreed predisposition to skin manifestations of UFR, but dogs do. They are most often found in German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Labradors, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Pugs and West Highland White Terriers.

As main causes of food poisoning in cats and dogs, Vladimir Ruppel named moldy foods, microbial infections, and plant toxins. Herewith, according to the doctor, unlike humans, cats and dogs are more resistant to botulism and staphylococcus, but also more sensitive to aflatoxins contained in corn, peanuts and cereals.

The most common cause of poisoning in dogs is chocolate, noted Vladimir Ruppel. Symptoms of poisoning – vomiting, diarrhea, bloating – develop within 6–12 hours, followed by hyperactivity, polyuria, ataxia, tremor, and convulsions. Death may occur due to arrhythmia or respiratory arrest.

Hops, grapes and raisins, onion and green onion, garlic and the sweetener xylitol are also harmful to dogs.

How to properly work with customers and staff was discussed by the participants of the Round Table «Reviews of the Conference Participants’ Businesses by Experts» held as part of the All-Russian Conference «Big Grooming Boss | Episode 5», which takes place within the framework of the International Business Exhibition of Goods and Services for Pets «Zooindustry 2025».

The owners of the grooming salons sent their questions in advance, to the company «Milord», the organizer of the Round Table, and it was working with customers (building a customer base, working with feedbacks, etc.), as well as interacting with employees, that formed the basis of the discussion.

«Today, customers are less likely to follow a master: often they just go to the nearest salon. And that’s why currently, every salon should be competitive, which means it should be able to work with customers properly», said Vladimir Pristaichuk, moderator of the Conference, owner of the AA for groomers.

«Meanwhile, grooming salons do not communicate enough with their customers. Though live communication and surveys are very important. Because it is this information that we need for building our marketing plans», said Denis Vasiliev, CEO of «Milord».

He recommended using chatbots less often, and instead teaching administrators to find out customers’ needs and desires, without forgetting, of course, about relevance of these wishes.

Working with customers directly depends on the administrator. The expert recommends not charging the administrator a single salary, but using a flexible payment system.

«Our groomers have a flexible remuneration system that includes the salary, a percentage of the fulfillment of the plan for the salon in general and for the shift in particular. That is, no matter which shift you work, you get a percentage of all shifts. Moreover, the groomer receives extra pay for difficult work, such as trimming or working with cats. Exactly the same approach should be applied to the administrator», believes Denis Vasiliev.

Among ways of intangible motivation, the owners of grooming salons primarily name the comfortable atmosphere at work: most often groomers quit their jobs because they are led by an unskilled person. If it is about corporate events as a possible unifying force, young employees respond to this with much more enthusiasm than older ones who have families and children. In general, according to business owners, the issue of motivation is individual, and if the team is small, 10–12 people, it is better to look for the approach specifically to each one.

«After all, motivation can change because of age, personal growth, the change in status. For example, marriage, childbirth, and even the purchase of an apartment can affect it», says one of the speakers.

And, of course, it is necessary to teach customers to come to the salon regularly.

«We don’t have many clients who really come regularly. They often come 2–3 times a year. Check your customer base: if you can increase their visits by at least 1 time, then your revenue will grow by 25–30%. At the same time, do not forget to constantly increase the base», conclude the experts.

At the International Business Exhibition of Goods and Services for Pets «Zooindusty 2025», customers meet with suppliers, companies present new feeds and preparations, and businesses can help animal shelters.

Russian pet food has already firmly established itself on store shelves, and manufacturers actively expand their product range.

«We are a fully Russian manufacturer of dry food and natural canned meat, and have been in the market for over 25 years. Last year, we started producing special rations for dogs and cats: «Gastrocomfort», «Hypoallergenic», «Weight Control», «Renal», etc.», says Galina Kozhevnikova, Director for Development at «Zoomenu».

Gatchina Feed Mill produces both dry and wet feed. In 2024, the mill began producing the veterinary line of the foods for cats and dogs used for digestive disorders, as well as for urolithiasis and acute or chronic renal failure in cats. «We work closely with St. Petersburg State University of Veterinary Medicine, and all our feeds have been tested. They really help the animals», says Natalia Zhuravleva, Head of the Marketing Department at Gatchina Feed Mill.

The «Petexpert» mill in the Lipetsk Region produces 20,000 tons of premium, superpremium and holistic dry feeds per year. And, according to the project manager Daria Kukushkina, the plans are to expand the production by 2 times, and by 2027, launch wet feeds.

The company «Premium Feed» develops customized and turnkey feeds, from formulation and package to packing and labelling. «We can use virtually any recipe with the raw meat input up to 30%. The demand is mainly for mono-protein: turkey, rabbit, lamb. There are also beef lovers», smiles Konstantin Bykhovsky, Commercial Director at the company. He notes that completely different additives are used in the feeds: spirulina, nettle and even dandelion root. But now the trend of using amaranth has begun: «Our customers ask about 7–10% of the feeds to be made up of this particular useful plant».

«Today, the main trend is for our animals to be healthy and make us happy», agrees Natalia Mirenkova, Deputy Head of the Commercial Service of the Velikonovgorodsky Meat Yard.

This production is one of the largest meat processing enterprises in the North-West, and meat raw materials, according to Natalia Mirenkova, account for about 70% of the feeds.

«Moreover, we are proud of our feeds to be balanced in terms of vitamins and mineral additives for each breed and weight category of dogs or cats. And, of course, we don’t use any illegal additives that are addictive to the animal».

The research and production enterprise «Moszoovetsnab» supplies the full range of veterinary drugs, tools and equipment. At the Exhibition, the company presented products of its own brand «Vetzabota», including a number of novelties, for example, eye drops based on ciprofloxacin «VEToko» or disinfectant spray «ViruVET» with the aroma of white tea. The brand’s line also includes exclusive products: «Zoosmectus» — antidiarrheal remedy with beef flavor for dogs and cats, «Lora» milk powder for kittens and puppies in the kits with bottles and brushes.

«Our exclusives include such drugs as chondroprotector for dogs and cats “Chondrofit Plus», which relieves inflammation and restores ligaments and cartilage in chronic diseases or injuries; the anti-inflammatory drug in the form of suspension «Nebolin-Vet»; new-generation uroprotector «Uropro» for treatment and prevention of urolithiasis and cystitis. And this year, the drug «Nephropro» for the treatment of kidney diseases will be released», says Elena Egorova, Head of the Marketing Department at «Moszoovetsnab».

Products for fish, birds, decorative rodents, turtles, and now also for reptiles are manufactured by the company «Zoomir». New products are presented at «Zooindustry 2025»: the line of treats for rodents, based on jerusalem artichoke and carob (carob fruits), and the feed, which is an alternative to live insects, for Eublepharis.and other insectivorous reptiles and amphibians. «Not everyone likes to buy crickets and caterpillars, so we developed jelly based on the larva of the black soldier fly, that is, from its natural habitat», explains Tatiana Fedorova, Advertising Manager.

The company «Kot Matros» is interesting because it came offline from online: at first it was an e-com platform, and then it opened a retail store and became a distributor. «We work with Italian companies that produce feeds, including medicinal ones; we are distributors of vitamins, veterinary medicines; we have shampoos, antiparasitic drugs and much more. We also represent the Russian brand «Lora». Until recently, we had our distribution centre only in Moscow, and just a few days ago we opened another one in St. Petersburg», says Margarita Sheina, Director of the Centre in St. Petersburg.

Polymer packages for the pet industry are presented at the Exhibition by the company «Titan». «What distinguishes us from other manufacturers is that we make our own molds, that is, we are a full-cycle Russian manufacturer. Moreover, we make not only packages, but any products. For example, we were ordered wheels for hamsters, faucets for aquariums, hooks for feeding parrots», says Aleksander Tulaev, Director of the company.

But the Exhibition is far from just a product presentation.

In the Business Contact Centre, companies’ representatives gather together for meeting and discussing possible cooperation.

«This is a closed event within the framework of key forums, where individual business meetings of customers and suppliers scheduled in advance are held», explains Natalia Ermolaeva, Head of the Promotion and Partner Relations Sector of the B2B Projects Directorate at ExpoForum International LLC.

Customers are large companies with large purchasing potential: pet chains from various regions of Russia, online stores, and others. They come to the Exhibition, get acquainted with new products, find out industry trends and meet with potential partners.

«And suppliers come to us not only from Russia, but also from other countries, including European ones», clarifies Natalia Ermolaeva.

This year, despite the sanctions, the business delegation from Czechia came to the St. Petersburg Exhibition «Zooindustry 2025» for promoting their products: this is a chance to meet with customers without intermediaries and establish initial contact with subsequent possible conclusion of contracts.

At the Exhibition, assistance to homeless animals was also not ignored. In the territory of interaction between business and non-profit organizations, two foundations have joined together — «Ryadom» from St. Petersburg and «Nika» from Moscow.

«We tell animal shelters about ways of successfully interacting with businesses. A business can help with feeds, medical supplies, or, for example, take over the employees’ remuneration. This is huge assistance for the shelter, and for business, it is the loyalty of the audience», says Valeria Kotlyuba, Director of the «Ryadom» Foundation.

Thus, the International Business Exhibition of Goods and Services for Pets «Zooindusty 2025» and the Business Contact Centre strive for covering all areas, bringing together professionals from various regions of Russia and foreign countries.

About a quarter of veterinary drugs sold in Russia are counterfeits. Sergey Skavronsky, a lawyer and founder of the «Pantey Consult» law firm, provided such data at the Round Table «Protecting the Rights of Brand Owners and Entrepreneurs from Counterfeiting». The event was held as part of the Exhibition «Zooindustry 2025» at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre.

According to Sergey Skavronsky, it may not only be about counterfeiting veterinary drugs. Counterfeit products also include goods with modified expiration dates.

Sergey Skavronsky recalled that starting in March 2025, the rules for releasing veterinary medicines will change, most of them will be sold only by prescription. The lawyer assumes that the amount of «gray» drugs in the market will increase, in particular, the supply of such products through Avito and other social networks.

The system «Honest Sign» is designed for making the market more transparent. Veterinary medicines have been registered in it since last year. However, it cannot yet be said that «Honest Sign» has proved to be an efficient tool against counterfeiting, because violators will not use labelling, says Sergey Skavronsky.

In the pet industry, violators are also actively forging pet accessories and pet care products. Moreover, it often happens that companies use strange trademarks for products that the copyright holder does not produce.

«This is a very broad category, and it can be difficult for consumers to figure out whether they buy a fake or an original product», notes Sergey Skavronsky.

Describing the violators’ work patterns, the lawyer informed that they often operate through marketplaces and use them as storefronts, and store the goods themselves in their warehouse, not the marketplace’s one. In this case, it is impossible to determine how much counterfeit was supplied.

Sergey Skavronsky also spoke about the main trends in counterfeit pet products in 2024.

He noted that companies from unfriendly countries continue defending their rights and do not stop combating against counterfeiting in Russia.

Besides, imports from China actively develop. And there are two categories of suppliers. The first category is law-abiding companies. The second one is enterprises that produce counterfeit goods in China and supply them to Russia. Or these are companies that produce non-branded goods, and unscrupulous sellers pass them off in Russia as strange brands.

However, the situation with combating counterfeiting changes for the better. If it turns out that, for example, on the marketplace, counterfeit goods are being sold, it is now easier to bring the supplier to justice by Rospotrebnadzor.

In turn, marketplaces themselves assist law-abiding companies and promptly block all counterfeit goods cards themselves after contacting them.

According to the lawyers, the main way of protecting yourself from counterfeiting is personalizing your products in one way or another. As lawyer Dmitry Davydovich noted, it is extremely important for manufacturers to register their trademarks and patents. This is the only efficient way to protect their products.

He explained how to act in case of detecting counterfeit goods. It is important to record its presence using photos, videos, and so on, then it is desirable to understand the amount of these products delivered to a particular store. If it becomes clear that the amount is large, you need to contact law enforcement agencies.

Next, the claim, preferably with irrefutable evidence of the counterfeit presence, is sent to the violator, then you can sue.

On average, legal disputes take 3–4 months, and most often decisions are made in favor of copyright holders.

According to Dmitry Davydovich, in the first half of 2024, in total, claims filed for the distribution of counterfeit goods in the Russian Federation amounted to 53 billion rubles, and these are most often mass lawsuits with a small sum of claims. Besides, the disputes over the distribution of counterfeit goods are often resolved in a pre-trial order, said Dmitry Davydovich.

Further introducing the system «Honest Sign» in the pet industry may lead to higher prices for products and withdrawal of small- and medium-sized players from the market. This forecast was given by Aleksander Kolchin, Director for Content at the Information and Publishing Centre «Zooinform», during his presentation at the Exhibition «Zooindustry 2025», which takes place at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre.

According to experts from «Zooinform», in 2024, the capacity of the market of pet products, excluding veterinary medicines, amounted to 510 billion rubles. As calculated by the analytical company DSM, the market capacity of veterinary medicines amounted to 42 billion rubles.

Herewith, last year the average receipt in offline stores increased by 11% and amounted to 3,000 rubles, in online stores — 5,000 rubles, or 3%. Obviously, sales of pet products online, in particular through marketplaces, will only grow.

It is important to note that the number of households consisting of one person who has a domestic animal is growing, said Aleksander Kolchin. As a rule, these are no longer people of the senior generation, but young people who are ready to spend significant amounts on goods for pets. The expert believes that this trend is worth paying attention to.

As for the production segment, the current players have been seriously increasing their capacities over the past year. For example, «Miratorg» holding and other companies are expanding the production of pet feeds. Meanwhile, as Aleksander Kolchin noted, the market is already saturated, and it is not yet clear how the companies’ sales aimed at capacity expansion will be organized. According to him, players can move into the fish feed segment, where the market is not saturated yet.

This year, small- and medium-sized players can also be expected to leave the pet products segment.

«Due to changes in federal legislation, small- and medium-sized enterprises will have to pay more taxes, which makes the business of some players unprofitable. They will try, in particular, to sell their production facilities», predicts Aleksander Kolchin.

However, there are no buyers for such assets yet, as sellers and potential new business owners cannot agree on the price, said Aleksander Kolchin.

Introducing the system «Honest Sign» at the pet industry enterprises will also have a significant impact on the market. Last year, the appropriate labelling of dry food was already introduced, and since March 1, 2025, «Honest Sign» will apply to wet food, as well.

«Here, too, not all manufacturers and sellers are ready to introduce «Honest Sign» and bear the related costs. Therefore, both small producers and pet stores will leave the market», added the expert.

According to him, even large manufacturers have not yet been ready to label some types of wet food.

«This year, we can also expect an increase in prices for animal feeds, since the sellers and manufacturers simply have nowhere to shift the costs for introducing «Honest Sign», said Aleksander Kolchin.

Speaking about the trends of 2025, the expert mentioned the trend to be increasing in other countries. It is about manufacturing personalized animal feeds. For example, the owner of a dog or a cat can contact a veterinarian who will make individual pet feed. Then, having the necessary recipe in hand, the owner of the animal can apply to a small production facility where it will be possible to produce food for the pet.

«This trend has not yet manifested itself in Russia, but it has been spreading in other countries», said Aleksander Kolchin.

On February 26, Mikhail Shirvindt, a popular TV presenter, video blogger and ideological inspirer of the Russian brand of natural cat and dog food «Two Tails», spoke at the Business Contact Centre (BCC).

Mikhail shared the history of the brand’s creation, talked about the company’s philosophy and how important it is to take care of pets’ health by offering them only high-quality and natural products.

He paid special attention to the unique feed recipes, which are developed given animals’ needs.

However, the most unexpected moment of the meeting was his personal demonstration of the product quality. Mikhail Shirvindt decided to try wet food to show by his own example how natural and safe it is. This bold step drew wild applause and smiles from the audience.