A bag of pet treats can lead to three different deals: distributing the supplier’s brand, putting your label on an existing recipe, or developing a formula of your own. Each calls for a different conversation—with a brand’s export team, a private-label manufacturer or a product-development specialist. Knowing which conversation you need makes choosing a trade fair much easier.
CIPS in November and PSC in February offer professional settings for comparing manufacturers. Shenzhen connects pet-product sourcing with cross-border commerce and smart products, while Pet Fair Asia’s August trade days suit a broader review of brands, finished ranges and potential suppliers. Start with the fair that best matches your main purchasing task; a second stop earns its place through a distinct group of suppliers or a specific development need.
The guide covers food and treats, everyday supplies and connected pet products. Ingredients, processing equipment and packaging enter the picture where your team controls production or product development. The calendar also brings a practical choice: PSC in Shanghai and Shenzhen’s spring fair overlap on 25 February 2027.
The sourcing calendar
| Fair | Dates to plan around | Venue | Main buying use |
|---|---|---|---|
| China International Pet Show — CIPS 2026 | 12–15 November 2026; professional trade exhibition | China Import and Export Fair Complex, Area B, Guangzhou | Comparing food and non-food suppliers, particularly when aquatics also belongs in the assortment |
| Pet Sourcing Fair China — PSC 2027 | 23–25 February 2027; professional sourcing exhibition | Shanghai New International Expo Centre, Shanghai | Connecting finished-product sourcing with relevant ingredient, processing and packaging suppliers |
| China (Shenzhen) International Pet Supplies Exhibition — SZPE 2027 | 25–28 February 2027 | Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, Futian | Pet supplies, smart products and food sourcing alongside cross-border commerce and supply-chain activities |
| Pet Fair Asia 2027 | 18–20 August 2027: trade visitors; 21–22 August: consumers | Shanghai New International Expo Centre, Shanghai | Comparing brands and category ranges while developing a more selective manufacturer shortlist |
Shenzhen’s listed dates cover the full exhibition; arrange professional access for your intended meeting days. At Pet Fair Asia, use the three trade days for the core procurement visit.
Finding a manufacturer: CIPS and PSC
CIPS and PSC are useful alternatives for a buyer with a reasonably clear product brief. Their timing and supplier coverage give each a different role in the buying plan.
CIPS identifies itself as a professional trade exhibition. Its product profile brings dog and cat food, accessories, toys, smart products and grooming together with a distinct aquatics offer, including tanks, filtration, lighting, pumps and temperature control. A distributor serving both pet-care and aquarium retailers can use that breadth to compare several parts of the range in Guangzhou. A food specialist can concentrate appointments on food suppliers and leave time to revisit promising manufacturers. CIPS buyer information, exhibit profile.
PSC’s 2027 programme identifies separate areas for raw materials and feed additives, production equipment and packaging, alongside finished pet goods. It also offers advance matching based on buyers’ procurement requirements. This gives PSC particular value when a project involves both the finished product and decisions about how it is made or packed—for example, selecting a food manufacturer while evaluating a packaging option or production investment. PSC 2027 trade-buyer announcement.
Build those appointments around the responsibilities your team holds. A retailer commissioning a finished, packed treat can start with a manufacturer responsible for the recipe, processing and pack. A business operating its own plant may need direct discussions with ingredient, equipment and packaging suppliers. PSC’s different areas allow either team to concentrate on the suppliers relevant to its project.
For either show, tell prospective exhibitors whether you want an existing product with your packaging, a customised formula or design, or supply under their brand. Identify the company that will manufacture the order and the representative best placed to discuss it. Where a trading company coordinates the offer, establish the production site and the responsibilities it will handle on your behalf.
Food and treats need their own selection brief
Begin with the destination market and feeding purpose: a complete daily diet, a complementary food or a treat. Compare offers within that intended use. Product form—dry, wet, baked or freeze-dried, for example—helps narrow the manufacturer search. A brief covering the animal, intended use, key ingredients and proposed claims gives potential suppliers enough context to assess the fit.
Market access belongs at this early stage. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates animal-food ingredients and labelling, alongside applicable registration and import procedures. Animal-origin materials can also bring U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requirements. Have your importer or regulatory adviser assess the proposed product and destination, using documentation tied to its formula, ingredients and manufacturing site. FDA animal-food import requirements, FDA guidance on importing animal food.
For a private-label food line, prioritise meetings with people who can explain recipe ownership, ingredient and batch traceability, and the shelf-life evidence for the proposed packaging. Formula changes belong with the manufacturer’s technical or development team. For an established branded range, an export or distribution representative can address territory, channel permissions and replenishment.
Commercial fit can decide the shortlist just as quickly as product quality. Request the minimum production batch and the printed-packaging order separately: a food batch may suit a small launch while the pouch order ties up considerably more stock and cash. Compare quantities for the same recipe and pack size, then agree the shelf life remaining on delivery and a workable repeat-order schedule. This reveals whether the first run fits the volume you expect to sell within your required shelf-life window.
These questions help focus a manufacturer-led visit to CIPS or PSC. If an established product and distribution arrangement better fit your launch, give more time to comparing finished ranges at Pet Fair Asia.
Accessories and smart products: Shenzhen’s sales-channel focus
Shenzhen’s 2027 offer combines pet food and supplies with smart products, supply-chain activities and cross-border commerce. Its organiser promotes manufacturer participation and product matching alongside brands and digital sales channels. This makes it relevant to buyers developing a product range for online and overseas retail, where the specification, packaging and after-sales arrangements need to work together. SZPE 2027 exhibition profile, organiser’s buyer proposition.
For a connected feeder or water fountain, compare the hardware version, power supply and mobile app included in each offer, together with support in your market. Replacement components and warranty handling belong in the same discussion. If your range needs its own branding or app, establish which adaptations the exhibitor offers and who will maintain them.
Beds, carriers, leads, toys and cat furniture call for a different comparison: materials and construction, size or colour variants, packed dimensions and repeat-order consistency. A flat-packed cat tree or nesting carrier may produce a different landed-cost calculation from a visually similar product shipped fully assembled. Matching the sample and quotation to the same construction and packing method makes the price comparison useful.
CIPS and PSC also cover non-food pet supplies, so give Shenzhen a place in the itinerary when its supplier appointments or cross-border sales programme add something specific to your buying brief. Production addresses then determine whether factory visits can fit around the exhibition; request them while arranging the meetings.
Pet Fair Asia for a broader assortment decision
Pet Fair Asia is useful when the question concerns the range itself: which food formats, accessories, smart products or brands fit the customers you serve? Its completed 2026 edition combined finished products, supply-chain exhibitors and international brands. Buyers can use that breadth to explore a category, then build appointments around suppliers participating in 2027. Organiser’s 2026 review and 2027 return announcement.
Brand-distribution and manufacturing prospects work best as separate shortlists. Brand meetings centre on territory, permitted channels, stock and reorder terms. Developing your own range brings product ownership, customisation and production responsibility to the foreground. With international brands also seeking entry into China, an early discussion of the markets each proposal covers helps both sides identify the commercial fit.
Pet Fair Asia’s SUPPLY section is a relevant lead for equipment, packaging and contract manufacturing. If those purchases drive the trip, obtain the 2027 programme and identify exhibitors matching your process before booking. The 2026 SUPPLY programme provides background on the types of suppliers to investigate.
Plan purchasing meetings for 18–20 August 2027. The consumer days on 21–22 August can serve a separate merchandising or China-market research assignment. A team focused on supplier sourcing can complete its exhibition work during the trade days; a team staying for shopper observation should assess those findings in the context of its own target market. Official 2027 visiting dates.
Planning around the February overlap
Combining PSC and Shenzhen means choosing which days to allocate to each. One outline is Shanghai on 23–24 February, an intercity transfer on 25 February, and Shenzhen meetings on 26–27 February. This gives up PSC’s closing day and Shenzhen’s opening day. Use it once professional access and supplier appointments are agreed for the selected Shenzhen dates.
Give the harder-to-replace meetings priority. A team buying ingredients or production equipment may keep all three PSC days; an accessories team with important Shenzhen appointments may put its main meeting block there. When essential meetings fall on the overlapping date, choose the higher-priority fair or divide the team. A combined route works best when each stop answers a different part of the buying brief, with room afterwards for samples, document review or an agreed factory visit.
CIPS in November 2026 and Pet Fair Asia in August 2027 provide separate sourcing windows. Work backwards from the date goods need to reach your warehouse, allowing for product approval, labelling, production and transport. An exhibition after the current supplier-selection deadline can help develop the following season’s range. At CIPS, schedule important meetings before the final afternoon: the show closes at 14:00 on 15 November. CIPS opening hours.
Leave each priority meeting with a named supplier and production site, an identifiable product or formula, an order quantity and packing basis, and a dated next step for samples or documentation. Those details turn the exhibition shortlist into offers your team can compare and develop towards an order.
Official sources
- CIPS: 2026 dates, venue and professional admission; product categories; visitor registration.
- PSC: 2027 edition and exhibit categories; trade-buyer programme and registration announcement.
- Shenzhen: 2027 dates and Futian venue; exhibition scope; professional visitor information.
- Pet Fair Asia: 2027 trade and consumer dates; 2026 review and next edition; SUPPLY’s published 2026 scope.
- U.S. FDA: animal and veterinary product imports; animal-food imports and other agency requirements.
Information checked on 8 September 2026. Reconfirm visitor access, participating suppliers and any programme essential to your purchase before booking travel.
