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| February 3rd 2008 |
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| Alimentaria and ProWein |
by our authors
Each spring, an ever growing number of wine fairs seek to attract exhibitors and visitors. Some are local, other have international impact. Vinisud has just closed its doors, but in the next few weeks four more will follow… and that’s not counting Wine Culture China in Beijing from 16-18 March 2008 (www.wineculturechina.com).
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Alimentaria
The last Alimentaria took place in 2006 and marked the exhibition’s 30th anniversary. Its success obliged the show’s organisers to use both of Fira Barcelona’s fairgrounds, covering 125,000 square metres of exhibition space, making it the second largest in the wiorld. More than 5,000 food and drink manufacturers from 70 countries were visited in 2006 by 155,000 professionals, of whom 33,000 came from abroad. In total, that was 10% more than in 2004. The wine show part of Alimentaria, Intervin, will take place in pavilions 2 and 3 of the Grand Vía fairgrounds. While only a fraction of what Alimentaria offers, more than 1,000 producers will exhibit this year, almost all of them from Spain. This makes Intervin by far the largest and most important wine fair in the country. Although it has yet to reach the importance of Vinitaly for Italian exports, Spain’s growing wine exports, which were up 6% in volume and 12% in value in 2007, make it ever more important for foreign visitors. The only other Spanish fair that’s also significant is the Fenavin at Ciudad Real, which occurs in odd years when Alimentaria isn’t held.
ProWein
Although it’s open only to wine industry professionals, more than 30,000 visitors are expected to visit ProWein in Düsseldorf this year. Of those, roughly a quarter come from abroad, giving ProWein an international flair that few other wine fairs possess. ProWein has grown rapidly since its humble beginnings in 1994 and this year will have more than 3,000 exhibitors, of which only a quarter come from Germany. The remaining producers hail from over 45 foreign countries. Yet the German stands cover nearly half of the fair ground. Not surprisingly, especially given the increased interest in Riesling in many off-shore markets, German wine remains the spotlight for many foreign buyers. This, however, has not impeded ProWein’s success with foreign exhibitors. Indeed, when polled last year, Italian, French and Spanish wines were each on about a third of the must-see lists of visitors. Austrian wines also did well. The rapid development of ProWein has strengthened Germany’s position as one of the world’s most important wine trading countries at the centre of Europe.
Vinitaly
Described last year by Angelo Gaja as “the best Vinitaly in 30 years”, the forty-second appearance of this Italian fair will be greeted with great expectations, especially as the organisers again expect to set new records. As Vinitaly 2007 registered almost 150,000 visitors, of which 20% came from abroad, including 2,600 journalists of 50 nationalities, that is a bold wish. The 84,000 square metres of exhibiting space is bursting at the seams – and although the yearly problems related to shortage of parking, lack of hotel rooms and terrible traffic congestion are still factors, the organisers have made a conscious effort to reduce access by the general public |
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and increase facilities for the trade. Sunday, though, remains the day to avoid. On the positive side, Vinitaly brings together an incomparable Italian mix of cheerful chaos, café culture and happy-go-lucky camaraderie. Although the number of foreign producers has grown over the years, this is still predominately an Italian affair. Veronafiere boasts that 4,200 exhibitors were registered from over 30 countries, but the large majority are domestic wineries, making Vinitaly a fundamental showcase for both new and established estates. Talent scouts from overseas need the full five days and will still have only covered a fraction of the offer. Since its first Vinitaly Tour in China in 1998, Vinitaly has also created a series of overseas Vinitaly shows. They have just returned from Japan, China and India and will soon be off again to the US.
WSWA
Although there will be an exhibit hall and a ‘taste of the industry’ session, the 65th Annual Convention and Exposition of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America’s (WSWA) is not your normal fair with large venues and row after row of booths featuring wines and spirits - which is not surprising, given it will be held in the glittering city of Las Vegas. Although an overwhelming display of product can be an effective model to show wines to a wide range of potential importers, distributors and retailers, the WSWA, which represent the interests of nearly all of the wine distributors in the United States, believes that there are other ways to communicate with your customers and peers. As the three-tier system in the United States precludes, for the most part, the direct sale of wine by the producer to any retail operation, the role of the wholesaler is to warehouse products from suppliers, pay the applicable taxes and then sell the goods locally. This generates different kinds of business partnerships. Each year the WSWA holds a convention, which has been alternating between Orlando, Florida, and Las Vegas, Nevada. At these shows, product displays clearly take a back seat to the business of selling. There is a small area where vendors display their wares, but these tend to be smaller producers hoping to find someone interested in picking up their brand. The main venue for meetings, discussions and negotiations are, instead, the numerous hospitality suites run by the major players.
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