The next ‘Meet the Buyers’ event, organised by the Gardenex and PetQuip associations, is to be held at their offices in Brasted near Sevenoaks on Wednesday 17 June 2015. The garden product buyers attending are from a German mail order and online shop, and importers/distributors from Poland and the US. The pet product buyers are from a Finnish pet chain and a Polish distributor.
Following recent ‘Meet the Buyers’ events, one buyer stated that his company is expecting to do business with thirteen of the fifteen suppliers met during the day, and another buyer stated that his company was now purchasing from four of the British companies that had presented their products and that they were in negotiation with another five suppliers.
Meanwhile, a British supplier said that as a result of the last event it was supplying wholesalers in Denmark and Romania. Another supplier confirmed that participation in the events had repaid the time and effort many times over.
Pet Product Buyer Participants
Musti ja Mirri Oy is the leading pet chain in Finland with 109 pet shops, around half of which are franchised. Their ranges include pet food and accessories for dogs, cats, rabbits, rodents, birds and aquarium fish. Musti ja Mirri has also expanded into Sweden with the acquisition in spring 2012 of the pet specialist retailer Grizzly Zoo, which has since grown from 9 to 22 stores, along with the acquisition of Zoo Support from Braganza AB earlier this year. Zoo Support is the owner of the Arken Zoo and DjurMagazinet store brands, and is the largest pet care retail franchise in Sweden, with 91 stores across the country. This latest acquisition gives the Musti ja Mirri group over 220 stores in Finland and Sweden. The buyer is looking particularly for natural treats such as dried pigs ears / tails for dogs, pouches of wet food for cats and a broad range of accessories.
Azan sp.j. is the exclusive distributor in Poland for Vafo Brit, the internationally-known Czech producer of premium/super-premium dry food for dogs and cats. Azan is located in Radom in central Poland, 100km south of Warsaw. It has a 2,000m2 warehouse and mainly supplies vets and independent pet shops all over Poland. The owner of Azan also has a chain of four pet shops in Radom, and is now looking to source dry and wet food, treats and pet accessories from the UK.
Garden Product Buyer Participants
Gärtner Pötschke is the leading German specialist garden mail-order company and online shop. Its buyers are regular visitors to Glee and source products from many Gardenex members. During the Meet the Buyers event, the company will be looking for innovative practical and decorative garden products, particularly those not already available on the German market. Gärtner Pötschke is happy to work with UK companies that are new to exporting.
The second garden product buyer is from ACM Agrocentrum, a Polish importer / distributor of hobby greenhouses sourced from the UK. The company has over 20 years’ experience in greenhouse sales and supplies to garden centre retailers. In addition, ACM Agrocentrum operates three on-line shops selling a broad range of garden items including greenhouses, boots, gloves, watering equipment, pest control and bird food. The owner/buyer now plans to create a store focusing on UK products and would like to meet suppliers of new, original items who are interested in exporting to Poland.
The buyer from the US is import/distribution company World Source Partners, which covers all areas of North America, Canada and Mexico. Operating through a network of 26 representatives, the company sells to all major lawn and garden and wild bird-care wholesalers in the USA and Canada, as well as many well-known retailers such as True Value, Ace Hardware, Do It Best, Menards, Orchard Supply Hardware, Fred Meyer, Lowe’s Canada, and many others. An increasingly important segment of the business is direct marketing through mail order catalogue companies and e-commerce sites such as Gardeners Supply, Amazon, and Hayneedle. Ideally, WSP is searching for companies that can offer a full line of products under a respected brand name.
To register for the ‘Meet the Buyers’ event, UK suppliers are encouraged to contact The Federation as quickly as possible. Full details of how to register for the individual buyer meetings are available from Theresa Swann on email theresa@petquip.com
