(Tiper Stock Exchange) – Vinitaly does not deny expectations: the 55th edition of the wine fair closes its doors with 93 thousand presences overall, up by 5.7% compared to the 88 thousand of the 2022 edition, with the arrival of 29,600 buyers from abroadan increase of 20% compared to last year’s 25,000.
The increase in foreign presences, from 143 countries and equal to a third of the total accredited operators, attests to the increasingly international character of this event and the success of the strategy of the Veronafiere group, which has invested more than 3.5 million euros for the promotion of the event abroad.
In the top five of origins, the United States they clearly detach the Germany. Third remains the United Kingdom while the China returns to fourth position, overtaking the Canada. Without prejudice to the general growth of the European market, we note the great return of operators from all non-EU markets: Asia, which more than doubled (+116%) driven by the return of the Chinese who exceeded 1000 presences, and Japan (+143%). The Americas mark a +38% with exploits from the USA (+45%) and Brazil (+46%), as well as further consolidation from Canada (+19%). Even Australia in triple digits, at +130%.
An announced success
The success of this edition had actually been announced even before the start of the fair, thanks to the beyond 1,000 selected top buyers and hostsyou from Veronafiere and ICE-Agency and about 11 thousand b2b appointments on the agenda during the four days of the event.
Also considering the other two professional exhibitions hosted at the same time in the Veronafiere exhibition area – Enolitech with Vinitaly Design and Sol&Agrifood with B/Open and Xcellent Beers – the more than 4,400 companies from 30 nationsthe.
The new road imprinted on Vinitaly
“A Vinitaly with a record in terms of number of incoming and record buyers”, comments the president of Veronafiere Federico Bricolorecalling that before the event “many business activities were carried out” and that “this is the new path that Vinitaly wanted to give the new governance of Veronafiere”.
“The goal – added the President – is to build a permanent and coordinated promotional platform with institutional partners capable of attracting incoming investments in Italy on the one hand, and Italian products abroad on the other with a rooting of Veronafiere, after Brazil and China, in the United States, Japan, South Korea and the Far East”
Emphasizing the great work done by Vinitaly and the Italian wine supply chain, in favor of internationalization, the CEO of Veronafiere Maurice Danish promised “we will continue now with an event on April 8 in Chengdu in China, from May 11 to 13 with the first fair in Shenzhen, to continue in September with the 4th edition of Wine South America held in Brazil and in October with the first fair in Chicago”.
An export champion
Italian wine is confirmed as a export champion And, in the last 10 yearshas climbed the ranking of Made in Italy riches in the world by exported value, passing from 4th place in 2011 to 1st place in 2022, and leaving behind champions of national production such as the fashion system and instrumental mechanics.
The wine industry of the Belpaese – Uiv-Vinitaly and Prometeia Observatory – worth 31.3 billion di euros, pledge 530 thousand companies with approx 870 thousand workersi, and is at the top of the special ranking relating to the trade balance of “traditional” made in Italy, that of the 4A (Clothing, Food, Furniture, Automation) which is worth around 200 billion euros every year.
With 7.4 billion euros of net exportsout of an overall balance of the Italian trade balance with non-EU countries of 25.5 billion at the end of 2022 (Istat data), wine has overtaken iconic sectors of the Italian lifestyle such as jewellery/costume jewelery (+6.8 billion euros) , leather goods (+6.7 billion euros) and clothing (+6.4 billion euros).
A resource for tourism
“Too often wine is not considered by the economic community for its real dimension. The sector, with its companies, has grown and refined its managerial skills to become a strategic capital of the Italian product”, said the CEO of Veronafiere Maurizio Danese, adding “we are convinced that wine is an extraordinary wealth for Italy”.
The value of wine, in reality, does not lie only in the growth of exports, but is much broader, also including the sector of food and wine tourism.
A value also recognized to the Minister of Tourism, Daniela Santanche, some underlined that “the important numbers recorded by the Vinitaly fair testify how much the fairs are an important driving force for tourism and for telling the story of Italian excellence in the world. A precious showcase to promote the nationbesides being one strategic tool to de-seasonalize tourist flows“.
Future threats and challenges
However, the Italian wine sector does not only face great opportunities, but there are also risks and threats, starting with the anti-alcohol regulations, which often do not make a distinction between beer, wine and spirits and which have resulted in the Irish law which wants to put a warning message against the consumption of alcoholic beverages on the packaging.
E According to the Uiv-Prometeia observatory, wine, compared to the rest of the agri-food sector, is more exposed to cyclical fluctuations dictated by the economic situation and/or by exogenous factors. ‘In particular, the ability to deal with the challenges posed by climate change will be crucial.’
“To cope with ‘transition risks’ (investments necessary to support the paths towards sustainability), the wine production chain may have to allocate, on an annual basis, resources equal to around 0.7% of its turnover between now and 2050. For a countervalue of over 100 million euros the year and a investment total of approx 2.7 billion of Euro”.
The power of attraction of wine
Vinitaly was not only a business opportunity, but also a catwalk for the institutions. Many Ministers attended, starting with the Premier Giorgia Meloni, who took the opportunity to meet the Serbian president and the Albanian premier. Invited to collect an award, Meloni also wanted to underline the importance of the agri-food sector for the future of young people and relaunch professional education with the idea of the “Made in Italy high school”.
The Deputy Prime Minister was also present Matthew Salvini who, always close to the companies of the North, wanted to emphasize the exports of the sector and the ability to create jobs, rejoicing with the young people who are betting on agriculture.
“The balance of Vinitaly is extremely positive. An event that has no equal in the world of wine and enhances the Italian system to open it up to new markets, to make our economy grow”, affirmed the Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida,
The president of the Veneto Region Luca Zaia he underlined that “Veneto is Italy’s largest vineyard” and accounts for a third of Italian wine exports.