SUPERZOO 2026 – Super Charge Your Business!

SUPERZOO 2026 is only 4 weeks away. You will see in this advance look that the Pet Industry is even stronger than ever as SUPERZOO 26 reflects the ever-increasing record level of Pet Products & Services sales.

The pandemic fueled the strong growth of Pet Products sales on the internet, which has continued because of value and convenience. However, most of these $ are coming from proven products. Buyers of all kinds, from consumers to chain store executives, prefer to make in person buying decisions on new pet items. That’s what makes in person trade shows so important. You will clearly see this at SUPERZOO 2026 with a strong influx of new exhibitors.

Currently SUPERZOO 2026 has 1147 exhibitors. That is 5.1% less than 2025, but still a lot. Plus, it will go higher. There are currently 66 uncommitted booths. 59 are 100 sq ft or less, ideal for International and Emerging Brands. These groups are often slow to commit. However, there is no doubt that SUPERZOO 26 will have about 1200 exhibitors. Because the WPA was able to add more booth space in 25, they are able to handle the ongoing influx of new exhibitors. This added space has also allowed some exhibitors to fulfill their desire to have bigger booths. SUPERZOO 26 will be truly “SUPER”!

So how big is the SUPERZOO 26 “house”? There are 299,000 sq ft of booths, a 39,000 sq ft New Products Showcase, with over 1000 items, and 10,000 sq ft devoted to 45 Show Floor Education and demonstration sessions. There are also 56 educational sessions on grooming or business subjects in separate rooms off of the show floor. Combined, these sessions offer over 120 hours of valuable education. This is a great opportunity for the expected 10,000+ buyers but also a challenge. They need to make a plan to take full advantage of the amazing strength of SUPERZOO 26. Total attendance including Buyers, Exhibitors, Media/Guests is expected to be 20,000+. The show will be crowded.

New is always a focus at Pet Trade shows. That also applies to exhibitors. At SUPERZOO 2026:

• 464 Exhibitors weren’t at SZ25 ●    403 are SuperZoo 1^st Timers

Plus, 312 haven’t done any other major pet show (GPE), at least from 2019>2026. Those are some strong arguments for attending SUPERZOO 2026. It is definitely a “must do” for all Pet Industry participants. Now, let’s look at some specifics of what you will see there. To have a more valid comparison, the 2025 data is from 4 weeks before last year’s show. While a change in the booth count is important, I suggest that you also note the changes in the share of booths. Changes in this measurement will indicate how a particular group or product category is performing relative to other groups. This will help identify key trends in the industry – both positive and negative. This can be very important in corporate decision making.

First, we’ll look at the overall show floor in terms of specialized sections.

• Because they help guide attendees’ time on the huge show floor, special sections are very important. They exceeded 50% of SUPERZOO booths for the 1^st time in 2021. They are down 8.6% from 25 but still 60% of all booths.
• Natural & Health are the unquestioned biggest trends in Pet Products. WPA combined them in 2022. They almost always go together so it makes sense to put them in one section. Natural has been the biggest section for years. They are up 5.8% in count and now account for 33.2% of all exhibitors.
• The appeal of Specialty & Lifestyle (Fashion) continues to slow but the share only fell -0.2% – relatively stable.
• Live Animals had a 4.3% lift in booths. This is an important section as non-dog/cat pets started the industry.
• Feed & Farm was discontinued. Poultry products (the driver) have now become part of the mainstream.
• Grooming has been a major focus of SUPERZOO. This section lost 56% and dropped from 4^th largest to the smallest.
• The International Pavilion also shrank as most of 230+ foreign exhibitors do not want to be separated by location.
• The strength of Emerging Brands shows the importance of new although many new companies choose a special section/open floor to have a bigger booth. In fact, 1^st Time SZ exhibitors occupy 35% of booths at the show.

Now let’s look at the Exhibitors by type, including animal.

• Only 1 business classification has more exhibitors, Media/Organizations. Major organizations are increasingly drawn to the Pet Industry.
• In terms of Animals, Dogs are still the “Pet Kings”. They lost 1.3% in share but are still found in 4 of every 5 booths. All smaller animals, especially Cats (+2.3%), gained in share. 3 even increased in exhibitor count.
• Business Services is again the exhibitor type leader. This segment includes companies that offer services to improve existing businesses and those that help in private label production – ingredients, packaging or finished products. In 2015 there were 65 SUPERZOO exhibitors in this category. In 2025 there were 267. In 2026, there was a 9% drop to 243, but still 15% more than 2024. OEM services is the biggest driver. The recent inflation surge and cumulative high prices have made Private Label products very appealing to consumers. Retailers also usually make more profit.

Let’s take a closer look at the “Pet Royalty”. Here are the top 10 Dog and/or Cat Categories at SUPERZOO 2026.

• This chart shows the performance by the top Cat & Dog products. Only the top 3 grew in booths but 4 gained in share. The avg drop in count was -14.4% but the avg drop in share was only -1.4%.
• As usual, there was no change in the group from last year. However, there were a lot of rank changes. The top 2 were the same. In the other 8, 3 moved up and 5 down. All changes but Food were only one spot from 2024.
• Treats & Meds/Supp secured their place in the top 2 spots and have 106 or more booths than #3.
• Food is the biggest $ producer and had a huge lift in both # & share. It also moved up to 3^rd from 6^th in rank.
• Toys had -3.4% fewer booths but gained 0.3% in share. They fell from #3 to #4 in rank.
• Collars/Leads loss -15.4% in booths and -1.7% in share (the 2nd biggest drop) and fell from 4^th to 5^th in rank.
• Feeding Accessories had a -14.5% loss in booths and a -1.5% loss in share and fell from 5^th to 6^th in ranking.
• Beds & Mats had 25 fewer booths and lost -1.6% in share, but they rose from #8 to #7 in rank.
• Grooming Tools had 31 less booths and lost -2.1% in share (biggest drops). They only fell to #8 from #7.
• Waste Pickup was -8.8% in booths but only lost -0.4% in share. They moved up in rank, from #10 to #9.
• Shampoos had -17.9% fewer booths and a -1.3% share loss. They fell from #9 to #10.

SUPERZOO will have fewer Exhibitors than the 1229 2025 record, but the house will still feel full. In 2026 the average SUPERZOO booth is 273 sq ft, basically 10’x30’. This is only +0.7% from 2025 but it is +36% from 200 sq ft in 2016. New exhibitors trend towards smaller booths. This allowed the WPA to find room for the ongoing surge in “new”. New and existing Products and Services are available to fill virtually every need or want of the attendees. Plus, the growing strength of targeted special floor sections, which helps attendees fulfill their primary needs along with a massive amount of educational sessions are 2 prime examples of the WPA’s ongoing efforts to continually improve the show.

932 exhibitors (81.3%) focus on Dog and/or Cat. Let’s take a closer look.

There will be fewer Exhibitors at SUPERZOO 2026 than at 2025. Those offering Dog and/or Cat products fell by 65 (-6.5%) and the Dog/Cat share of exhibitors decreased slightly from 82.5% to 81.3%. However, Dogs and Cats remain the unquestioned “royalty” of the industry. Here are some of the changes from SUPERZOO 2025

• 9 of 33 categories increased their number of exhibitors; 21 had decreases; 3 had no change
• 13 categories increased their share of total exhibitors (only 4 in 25); 18 lost share (26 in 25); 2 No Change
• Ranking changes: 10 up; 14 down; 9 no change (2025: 11 up; 10 down; 12 no change)

In terms of booth gains & losses, the Top 10 had 3 of the 9 increases. The biggest increase was 38 by the Food category (#3). The Top 10 also had 7 of the 21 category decreases and Grooming Tools had the biggest drop, -31.

When you look at share gains & losses, the Top 10 had 4 of the 13 gains. The biggest gain was the huge 4.1% by Food. The Top 10 also had 6 of the 18 losses, including the largest, -2.1% by Grooming Tools. 5 other categories had drops over -1%. Only Grooming Tools had a share loss over -2%. There were 4 in 2025.

The Top 10 had 3 of the 10 increases in rank & 5 of the 14 drops, but the biggest changes were outside the group.

All Dog & Cat product needs are much more than covered, with a lot of choices in each. We should definitely celebrate the big 2.3% share gain by Cat. 3 of 13 category lifts were Cat “driven”. Litter, Furniture & Scratching all gained in share.

SUPERZOO again showcases what is “happening” in the Pet Industry and offers a great opportunity for Industry participants, both exhibitors and attendees, to drive the growth of their businesses. It still takes effort and commitment from everyone, but SUPERZOO 2026 is the surest bet in Las Vegas!

Finally, the chart below details the specifics for all 33 of the Dog/Cat product categories that I defined for the Super Search Exhibitor Visit Planner.  (Note: The SZ 2026 Super Search will be available at PetBusinessprofessor.com on 7/27.