A short history of PETS Europe, PETS International and GlobalPETS

One clear goal

Founded in 1988 by Reinder Sterenborg, PETS International (originally called PETS Europe) had one clear goal in mind: providing the European pet market with the tools to communicate in the international trade market, made possible by the opening of the European borders for free movement of people, goods and services, under the Schengen Agreement in 1992. Reinder saw the possibilities and acted accordingly, resulting in a pet industry magazine which, for thirty years now, has been the cutting edge for the pet industry, predicting changes, trends and reporting relevant news.

How it all began

Even though it was called PETS Europe, the first magazines already covered an international market, including information about markets such as the Americas and Japan. At first, the magazine was only distributed in Europe.

However, PETS Europe attended fairs worldwide and the Interzoo enjoyed increasing expansion as well. The start of fairs in Asia in 1997 and the APPA (formerly the APPMA) organizing the Global Pet Expo, generated an even wider international audience.  Corine van Winden explains: “After a visit to a South American fair in 1998, the confident decision was made to change the name from PETS Europe to PETS International in 1999.”

During the early years, the magazine was published in two editions, both bilingual. “Since English was not yet the common trading language, we tried to cater to everyone’s needs,” says Corine. In later years, this would become one edition in English, with abstracts in German, French, Spanish and Chinese.

In 1999, it became clear that English was the main trading language, so the magazine was published in English only, with overwhelming support from the international market.

From magazine to community

“Looking back on our history, the genes of international focus and innovation can be seen throughout all of our activities,” says Corine. Over the past three decades, the magazine has evolved, grown and expanded, keeping ahead of the pet industry. After the change from PETS Europe to PETS International and the addition of the online community GlobalPETS, it now comprises a magazine, website, online registry of the global pet industry and a weekly email newsletter.

Providing the pet industry with more than ‘just a magazine’, GlobalPETS provides tools to follow global developments, such as the rise of internet, the emerging need for alternative proteins and more recently the focus on sustainability.

International market on the move

“Fifteen years ago, the Asian market was still in its infancy. People were discovering the possibilities, learning to deal with all these small companies and understanding a culture so different from the American and European cultures. Today, Asia is a huge market, with its own international fairs such as CIPS and Pet Fair Asia, attracting more and more business from around the world. We first wrote about Asia thirty years ago and have been in a successful partnership with CIPS for almost four years now,” says Corine.

“We have followed many developments step by step. From the mom-and-pop stores in the ’80’s, the start of retail chains in the ‘90’s and in 2000 the first online platform, Zooplus. Now we can see that the next phase will be omnichannel.” Corine offers some advice for those brick-and-mortar stores that want to keep up with the times: “Innovate! Not just cosmetically, but build your strategy around omnichannel, and turn your store into an experience, make shopping worth the time to step away from a screen and leave the house.”

Sustainability is the next big thing

Since 1988, one of the main pillars of the magazine has always been to show the world what the most important trends are in the international pet industry.

From 2018 onwards, sustainability will become one of our focus points, in addition to our existing DNA. “PETS International and GlobalPETS are going green. We are working towards becoming a B-corp company (see page 26-27), by conducting our business sustainably,” explains Corine. An example of this change is the decision to no longer use a physical goody bag during the GlobalPETS Forum. “Instead, we have designed an app in which each interested party can have its own digital goody bag slot, complete with all the documents which would otherwise be printed.”