Pet products invented and manufactured in the UK are becoming more popular with international buyers with exports predicted to rise dramatically in the next year. That's the feeling among British companies who exhibited at the Zoomark trade exhibition in Italy.

Those UK firms attending Zoomark as part of the British group organised by PetQuip reported high interest in their products with an impressive amount of orders taken at the show in Bologna.

Ken Seymour, of Tastybone, summed up the mood of the British contigent when he said: "Zoomark was once again a tremendous show for Tastybone.

"We attended the show with a wish list and we are happy to say we exceeded our target. We took several large orders at the show, and on the day we arrived home we received orders from a number of new distributors picked up at the show.

"Due to the positive results from Zoomark, Tastybone is well on track to exceed our 2015 export target."

Animology described the show as a success, with Martin Breen stating: "With our export distribution partners spread far and wide around the globe, shows like Zoomark give us a great opportunity to meet as many of our existing customers in one place as possible.

"We have been undertaking a lot of NPD in recent months with the development of new Animology products for horses and cats, and the show enabled us to show these to our customers for the first time.

"We picked up some great leads to pass on to our existing distributors in markets where we are already represented, and expect to appoint several new distributors as a direct result of the show.

"Our new products were very well received, with a number of visitors to the stand telling us that they had seen the products in the New Product Showcase and had then come over to see us to learn more.

"All in all it was another good show for us, and we'll be very busy in the coming days following up on the many conversations that we had there."

Dog Rocks regretted missing Zoomark when it was last held in 2013, so they made the most of their appearance this time around.

Carina Evans said: "It was an excellent show and great to be with Petquip. The show attracted just as many big box and distributor buyers as well as smaller independent buyers from all over Europe as Interzoo. It felt like a great success all round but the proof is in the pudding so fingers crossed the orders roll in."

Chris Jones, from White Python, said the show was much better than he expected. "I now have the potential of working with distributors in around 15 new countries.

"Of course we have to wait and see what actually results in business, but I have quite good chances in particular working with new distributors in Spain, Italy and France which I’m particularly excited about.

"I also met with some key major retailers and some customers whom I already knew, which certainly helps to build relationships."

It was the same success story for The Company of Animals with marketing manager Victoria Lowe admitting: "Throughout the course of the 4-day show we met some fantastic potential new customers, including many large pet speciality chains.

"We also listed new lines with existing customers and showed off our new product, Foobler - the world’s first electronic, timed, food dispenser which will launch later this year.

"With over 350 brochures given out, the show was a great success with many exciting developments to come once we have carried out a full show de-brief."

Zoomark provided an excellent opportunity to promote the Forthglade brand to a wide range of European pet food buyers, said joint managing director Gerard Lovell.

"Forthglade and the Grain Free Lifestage product range were really well received and we estimate that over 1,000 people visited the stand, generating a significant number of sales leads. We're very confident that key European distributors will be signed up over the next few months."

The main aim for The Canny Company was to carry out a brand relaunch to incorporate the company's new products with its Italian distributor, Wonderfood.

"Our new products were very well received on both their stand and ours, particularly the Canny Magloc, which generated a lot of interest," said managing director Sean McElherron "We also had strong interest from Spain, Turkey, Macedonia and Poland, the latter three being countries where we have had no previous distribution."

It was the first time Vitalin had showcased at Zoomark since it rebranded the Super Premium Life Stage range.

"The outcome of the trade show was great," said Annabell Dennis. "We have lots of opportunities to follow up and are very excited to be extending the
radius of our Vitalin sales. We had a lot of cheerful feedback regarding the branding and are very enthusiastic about the future of Vitalin Natural internationally."