Welcome to the first On-line edition of the NGPS
newsletter. The printed versions will continue for
members who do not have Internet access, but each
will be reproduced here. This reduces costs, especially
postage, and extra items can be added at any time.
For example, this December edition has a copy of the
article about the Aqua2013 Trade Show….
The AQUA 2013 Trade Show – a report by Dr David Ford, Aquatic Services
There is only one Trade Show this year exclusively for the Aquatic Trade, so it was a
very big one – with more than 70 manufacturers, importers and wholesalers vying for
business from the more than 1,000 Aquatic Shops in the UK.
In fact there are more than 9,000 petshops in the UK and they all have the potential
to add fishkeeping to their sales portfolio. To these, the Supplier Trades use this
Show to persuade them to place orders for ‘new and exciting products’.
The pet trade always reflects the state of the Nation and there is a sure sign that
things are recovering from the low growth of recent years…the Trade Show was
really impressive with large, ultra-modern design stands staffed by experts in
marketing, sales and the technology of our hobby.
It took place over two days: October 9 th & 10th in the Telford International Centre, in
Telford town centre, Shropshire.
You needed to pre-register as a pet trader to attend and so the Show was not open
to the hobbyist, so here are some of the items that will be in an aquatic shop near
you…soon.
The Exhibitors
The Entrance
Every available stand in the two halls was taken by the exhibitors…
There were regular seminars with talks by people such as Keith Davenport of OATA
(Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association) – “Changes to the Sale of Goods Act” and
Jeremy Gay (Practical Fishkeeping magazine) – “What the consumer wants” and
Dave Perry (Peregrine Livefoods) – “Retailing Reptiles”.
Here is Jeremy Gay talking about trends in the fishkeeping trade….
He predicted that white
was the ‘new’ colour.
Equipment such as
pumps and filters will
be white plastic to give
a technical but
decorative look to
Nano Tanks and
Biorbs. Even the
aquaria and their
stands will be white.
This is proved true where manufacturers showed their 2014 models…..
….and the equipment for tanks and pond maintenance….
He also predicted that Blue is the new colour for aquarium fish – soon there will be a
Blue Angelfish. Bettas (Siamese Fighters) will be as popular as they already are in
the USA, he claims. Certainly the firm Aqua One had a Betta Stand for this fish…
Cater for the Children
The potential for fish as pets for children are no longer a goldfish in a bowl. Tetra
had a Peppa Pig aquarium and Eheim had a ‘Hello Kitty’ tank.
The ornaments in these children aquaria were like a scene
from Disney Land.
The Pepper Pig tank….
The Biggest and Best
The largest stand was by
Tetra – a long tradition at
Fish Shows in all the
World.
Hagen competed by having an aerial display….
But the most interesting stand was by Mars
Fishcare. They are a global manufacturer
with several brands. These are API
(Aquarium Pharmaceutical Products) which
are made in the USA, Aquarian fish foods made in Yorkshire, and Rena equipment made in France. On their stand was their
consultant Dr Peter Burgess, to answer
trader’s fish disease problems, staff from the
Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition to answer
queries on fish feeding and USA technicians
to deal with API product queries.
-}
The Waltham Centre (in Leicestershire) has a small aquarium laboratory for
fundamental research, but a brand new research laboratory has been built by the
API people in Pennsylvania, USA, with these pictures of the facilities on their Mars
Fishcare stand.
Another stand that was attracting attention
was by Dr David Pool who is the Chairman
of the OATA Impact Exhibitions (and so
organised the Trade Show itself).
He has launched a brand of fish foods
called FishScience and he had his own
stand.
Attracting Attention
With so
Stands
message to
displays or
This person
around the
much competition the
needed to bring their
the visitors by special
hand-out leaflets.
from Hikari walked
Show all day….
One stand had an ice cream ‘stop me and buy one’….
To show how the aquariums would look in the home, there were displays with room
furnishings added….
Many exhibitors had furnished aquaria with goldfish and tropical species….
Neil Hardy’s stand
Fancy Goldfish on JMC’s stand
The Plants
Firms such as Waterplants and Aquatic Plants had amazing displays with the latest
pre-potted specimens in hydroponic gels and water cascade systems….
The Pond Scene
The Water Garden Centres were catered
for with pond equipment and Koi stands.
Converting the Petshop
If the visitor owned a petshop without a fish section, there were several suppliers
who would install units complete with aquaria and filters…
A good example was Hobby Fish – here is the owner Jonathan Chalmers (specially
brought into the show from retirement) showing how the display units have easy
access (and choose your colour too)…
At the back of these display units are the pipes (wide bore for high water volume)
and filter units to give clear water…
Even the Government had a stand…this was ‘Cefas’ the Centre for Environment,
Fisheries and Aquaculture Science. They had information leaflets and advice for the
visiting aquatic store owners on the legal requirements of owning live fish and
aquatic plants.
The Trade Show was a fascinating and rewarding experience – it is a pity that the
hobbyist cannot experience it too. But they will when all the New Products revealed
at the Show eventually reach the Aquatic Stores to be chosen by you and me…
(yes, the sign says ‘no photographs’ – not seen at the time, honestly).