After two years, last week marked the beginning of normality again with the arrival of Crufts 2022. After six months in the planning, we finally made it to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham. It was going to be four fantastic days meeting hundreds or even thousands of you. It did not disappoint!
Arriving
We arrived on the Wednesday and in a race against the clock to get all the stock unloaded, and to be away from the hall in under an hour. We managed to get everything set up and ready for an early start on Thursday morning, but not before we took plenty of photos and videos for social media!
Thursday – Working & Pastoral
Thursday was the return of Working and Pastoral breeds and a complete mix of dogs competing. We were joined by some staff from our sister company – NutriScience, who flew in from Ireland to help our UK team. The day began by catching up with some familiar faces from other companies, as well as catching up with the Nutravet team. Another of our sister companies. Then came 11am. The time where things go crazy! As we were in Hall 5, most attendees find our hall last, and boy did it remain busy. We were overwhelmed with the feedback from so many lovely customers!
Friday – Terrier & Hound
Friday was Terrier & Hound Day which is always a fun day! Friday was when we started seeing our Dental Bones fly. So many customers who currently use ProDen PlaqueOff® Powder were looking for a chew as they know how important it is to treat your pet, but in a healthier way. The scramble for our newest flavour – Peanut Butter and Banana Bones was crazy!
Saturday – Utility & Toy
Saturday was Utility & Toy Day, a day where our best-selling product ProDen PlaqueOff® 60g usually flies off our trailer shelves. But this year was a little different. In the past two years, people who would usually purchase our 60g ‘starter’ tub were going for our 180g tubs instead. Saturday is usually one of the busier days and one of our marketing team’s favourite days because we have Instagram famous dogs visit our stand! We work closely with ambassadors to help spread the word about ProDen PlaqueOff®. In the past two years they have been invaluable, especially as we relied on technology to keep us connected more than ever before. For those Instagram accounts who came over and introduced themselves, they all took home a free bag of ProDen PlaqueOff® Dental Bones, as well as buying extra products too. We find it is a very funny when we spot Instagram dogs, but do not recognise the human behind the account!
Sunday – Gundogs
Sunday, and the return of the Gundogs. Gundog Day is usually our busiest day. Typically the bigger the dog, the more ProDen PlaqueOff® they get through. Our mission for the day was to sell out of as many products as possible. By lunchtime we had sold out of our 420g & 180g Powder, as well as our Peanut Butter and Banana flavoured Mini Dental Bones. By 3pm we had sold out of every single tub of ProDen PlaqueOff® we had with us, and the amount of people coming over and asking for them was unbelievable. At this point, our technology kicked in, and we offered customers QR codes to online retailers so they could still stock up. It was then time for us to pack up and return to Leeds to give our team some well deserved time off.
Thank you!
A huge well done to our team who managed to pull off what could well be our best and most enjoyable Crufts ever, it is hard work at exhibitions as well as staying on top of regular work while away. They did an amazing job! Finally, we’d like to say a massive thank you to every single person who came to our stand, had a chat with us, bought from us or simply tagged us on social media – we loved seeing all your shopping hauls! The love for our products continues to grow, and it is amazing to see so many owners who are conscious of looking after their dog’s oral hygiene.
Here’s to Crufts 2023!
The ProDen PlaqueOff® UK Team