The need for all drinks businesses, particularly those of a certain size, to be putting in place appropriate and effective steps to make them more sustainable is greater than ever. But the help, support and advice to help them do so is a more tricky area, with lots of companies claiming they can help, but not a clear path forward for which routes a particular wine, beer or spirits company should take. The new Sustainability in Drinks exhibition and conference to be held in the UK in October hopes to provide some of those answers. One of its founders, Janet Harrison, explains what it hopes to achieve.
It looks like ProWein will have to do without an appearance from Kylie at this year’s show, but for thousands of wine buyers and producers Dusseldorf still remains the place to be seen and to do business. Richard Siddle catches up with the show’s new director, Peter Schmitz, to find out how seriously it is taking competition from Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris, and what steps it is making to build on its status as the number one global wine fair.
One of the wine industry’s biggest strengths is also one of its major weaknesses. For this is a sector that attracts people for the long term with many, if not most, spending their entire careers working in some aspect of wine or another. But it can, for that very reason, be quite intimidating for someone to come in to what is a largely white, middle class workforce, particularly if you don’t look or feel the same as those around you. To help better understand what those challenges are last year’s Wine Future conference invited those from a range of different backgrounds and underrepresented groups to share their experiences of how diverse and inclusive the wine industry really is.
Ironically the hardest thing busy wine buyers get to do when attending major trade exhibitions is the opportunity to go and meet new producers, so busy are they with meetings with existing producers and importers. Which is where Wines Unearthed comes in. An initiative 100% focused on promoting producers seeking distribution in key markets all in one area of the show. It has become a firm fixture of the London Wine Fair and will be making its first appearance at Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris in February. Here its founders, Judy Kendrick and Ana Sofia Oliveira explain how Wines Unearthed works and what to expect in Paris.
With close to 30% more floor space booked for Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris 2024 it’s not surprising Rodolphe Lameyse, chief executive of event organisers Vinexposium, was in a bullish mood at a London press conference held last month to set the scene for next year’s show. He also said the event comes at a key time for a global industry faced with so many similar pressures against a backdrop of falling worldwide wine consumption and challenging wine harvests. Its job, he said, was to provide the right platform to “shake the community” into finding better ways of working together.
“The wine industry is innovating too slowly. Spirts and other beverages are leaving the wine business behind by recognising the need to shift their strategies and tactics.” That’s the challenge that Michael Wangbickler, president of Balzac Communications & Marketing that works with leading wine brands and producers on their communications strategies, hopes will be addressed at the Wine Future conference that is taking place in Coimbra, Portugal this week.
The worlds of bulk, branded, packaged and own label wines and spirits are becoming ever entwined as buyers and producers alike look at ever more efficient and sustainable ways to do business with each. Which is why in November the International Bulk Wine & Spirits Show is returning to London with a new sister event, the UK Trade Tasting focused on promoting branded wines and spirits. The Buyer talks to events organiser Sid Patel, chief executive of the Beverage Trade Network, about what he hopes the two combined events can offer the UK and European wine industries.
“The consumer wants wine as their preferred alcoholic beverage. They just don’t know it.” That’s why Rob McMillan of the Silicon Valley Bank remains positive and optimistic about the future of the global wine industry despite the many challenges it faces. Here he shares his thoughts as the latest leading wine figure taking part in the Wine Future conference in Coimbra in Portugal in November.
“We must not be afraid of the word ‘bulk’…for me, bulk means creativity. It is the foundations of the house on which you can choose to build one way or another.” That’s the open minded approach that the World Bulk Wine Exhibition (WBWE) wants to take when providing the global wine industry the platform to buy and sell wine and do business, says Cristina V Miranda the event’s marketing and communications director. Here she explains what to expect at this year’s event.
It is nearly 25 years since the first Wine Future looked to address the big issues facing the wine industry at its inaugural event in Rioja in 2009. In November the fourth Wine Future is set to take place in Coimbra in Portugal where many the issues discussed all those years ago are still as relevant today. To help set the scene for what to expect The Buyer over the coming weeks is interviewing many of the keynote speakers set to take part starting today with Dr Laura Catena, managing director at Catena Zapata, one of Argentina’s and the world’s most influential wine producers.
The unique properties of old vine wines, how vines manage to survive for over 150 years and what they can tell us about the future of viticulture in the face of climate change, were just some of the topics discussed at the Old Vine Conference 2023 held in Campania. Hosted by Feudi di San Gregorio, leaders in the Italian movement to protect, preserve and make wines from old vines, this second Old Vine Conference brought together leaders in the realm of ancient Italian vineyards to discuss and examine best practices for growing, protecting and promoting old vines and their wines. The Buyer’s Lisse Garnett was there to hear from Professor Attilio Scienza, vine master pruner Pierpaolo Sirch, Feudi di San Gregorio chairman Antonio Capaldo, Sarah Abbott MW and Basilisco winemaker Viviana Malafarina. Garnett also tastes and evaluates 12 old vine wines from across the globe to evaluate their unique properties.
Ahead of the Institute of Masters of Wine’s 10th International Symposium to be held in Wiesbaden, Germany this summer, Richard Siddle speaks to IMW executive director, Julian Gore-Booth, about the institute’s flagship event – which it calls the ‘Olympics of wine events’ held, appropriately enough once every four years, about what it hopes to achieve and what the key issues are that will be up for discussion. He also looks at the institute’s targets and ambitions and its role in the wider wine industry.
The wine industry’s focus on the global bulk wine market has never been more intense as retailers, importers, distributors and suppliers look to source the best quality and best value wines for their markets. But what are the behind the scenes trends that are driving and dictating the international bulk wine market? We talk to Otilia Romero de Condés, chief executive of the World Bulk Wine Exhibition about how she sees the bulk wine market and what to expect at WBWE 2023 in Amsterdam in November.
You have to go all the way back to 2008 for the first Wine Future event held in Rioja, Spain. A breakthrough event at the time that looked to bring the biggest names, companies and wine brands in the world together to address the key issues facing the sector. Some 15 years later and many of those challenges, if anything , have got worse and a whole lot more have piled up. Which is why Wine Future is returning in November to help the sector address its issues and make the most of untapped opportunities.
Next week sees ProWein return to its traditional timeslot in the drinks industry’s events calendar after 2022’s show was switched to May, and in 2020 and 2021 cancelled entirely due to Covid restrictions. Not surprisingly, ProWein’s executive director, Michael Degen, is hugely relieved at the return to some semblance of normality for the world’s biggest international wine and spirits trade show. He talks to Helen Arnold about the impact of the pandemic, what visitors can expect from the 2023 show and his vision for the future of the event.
Communicating about wine is so much more than putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and telling a story. It’s a narrative woven through words, pricing, positioning and placement. It’s about being in the right place at the right time and in front of the right people and then and only then, will you succeed. Over two days of talks, seminars and discussions, wine2wine 2022 put this complex puzzle under the microscope, calling on leaders from all corners of the wine industry to share their expertise. Caroline Tanner reports back for The Buyer.
If there was some sort of infra red device that allowed you to see how every bottle of wine down a supermarket aisle, or on a restaurant chain’s wine list was made and bottled then it’s a fair bet to say a big proportion would have been shipped in bulk and packaged in the UK. The International Bulk Wine & Spirits Show hopes to help producers, importers, buyers, retailers and on-trade groups alike get on top of their bulk wine – and spirits – needs when it returns to London in November 2023. Here’s what to expect.
“Communication requires more attention by professionals interested in selling, promoting, teaching and even making wine, as it clearly affects every aspect of the sector.” Those are the thoughts of Steve Kim, founder and the creative thinker behind the breakthrough wine2wine event that is back in November for its first post-Covid in-person event. It’s also why she and her team have decided to put “wine communications” at the heart of what will be the ninth wine2wine event with a series of talks, seminars and debates designed to share what wineries, producers, businesses, writers, influencers and communicators are doing to tell their stories about wine in their own creative way.
“Now is the time to value old vines, in every sense. And the sessions have been developed to show why. To value old vines is not to hanker sentimentally for ye olde days of the hoe…we want to highlight how old vine fruit inspires and engages winemakers.” That’s the rallying call from Sarah Abbott MW, co-organiser and founder of the Old Vine Conference that holds its first in person event next month as part of its worldwide ambition to bring producers, winemakers and commentators together to discuss and analyse how collectively the wine industry can work with, protect and use old vines to make the wines of the future.
The countdown for arguably the most ambitious event to help the wine industry tackle climate change is into its final days with the event due to start on May 23. Green Wine Future by Wineally 2022 is set to take place across the world throughout next week, starting on Monday and running through to May 26, with a series of webinars, online debates, filmed reports and a whole lot more being hosted in different cities and countries across the four days. The Buyer is a media partner for the event and here we pick out some of the highlights of what to expect.