BANGKOK — Pet Fair SEA, a pet market trade show hosted by VNU Group focused on the South East Asia market, has postponed its conference, initially scheduled for Oct. 20-22. The new dates have been scheduled for Jan. 20-22, 2021 in Bangkok.

To compensate for the postponement, VNU has announced a virtual buyer fair, PreConnect, to be held Oct. 14, 2020. The platform will allow pet brands to showcase products to the top buyers and vendors from 15 countries in an online format.

“This year has not been an easy ride, but this way, we can turn the current situation into an opportunity by adding a key service for the pet industry through our virtual buyer platform,” said Manuel Madani, who leads Pet Fair SEA. “It will help both buyer’s demand and exhibitors to get to know each other’s business first. This supports the physical meeting later in January.”

VNU cited travel restrictions in its decision to postpone the in-person trade show, and hopes European and North American companies will be better prepared and able to attend the later dates.

“As a fast-growing community, we believe in change by innovation,” Madani said. “Pet Fair SEA represents brands from across the world. The international community, in particular from Europe and North America are major contributors. We believe that exhibitors should have at least 3 months’ time to prepare for a quality and international trade fair. We choose to give more time for a recovery of international travel.

“With postponing the physical trade fair, we still support our exhibitors and buyers to organize their participation and connecting them ahead of the physical meetings through our virtual PreConnect platform,” he said.

Read more about pet food and treat industry events.