ProWein：good and old like winee

Celion Su

Starting with a ceremonial ribbon cutting by German Minister for Agriculture Julia Kl？ckner， the three-day show （17–19 March 2019） further solidified its position as the worlds leading trade fair of its kind.

ProWein 2019 once again achieved attendance growth. The share of visitors with decision-making authority also reached a strong new high： more than 80 percent of visitors were involved in purchasing decisions.

This years ProWein fair put an exclamation point on 25 successful years of trade fair history at Messe Düsseldorf. Starting with a ceremonial ribbon cutting by German Minister for Agriculture Julia Kl？ckner， the three-day show （17–19 March） further solidified its position as the worlds leading trade fair of its kind. "When we launched ProWein 25 years ago， none of us could have imagined just how incredibly it would develop. Its taken a massive amount of hard work and strong support along the way from our partners to grow this exhibition step for step into the worlds largest and most important trade fair for wine and spirits. And weve got many things planned for our future as well，" says Hans Werner Reinhard， Managing Director of Messe Düsseldorf. A pair of heads of state， prime ministers António Luís Santos da Costa of Portugal and Andrej Plenkovic of Croatia， were even on hand at the exhibition grounds to join in the ProWein anniversary.

Many Highlights for Visitors

A total of 61，500 industry visitors （2018： 60，500） from the retail and restaurant/ catering businesses made the pilgrimage to Düsseldorf. As such， ProWein 2019 once again achieved attendance growth. The share of visitors with decision-making authority also reached a strong new high： more than 80 percent of visitors were involved in purchasing decisions. The visitors traveled from 142 countries （2018： 133 countries） and were expressed strongest interested in wines from Germany， Italy， France and Spain. Great Britain has come to represent the fifth-largest contingent of visitors after Germany， the Benelux， France and Italy.

Top Marks for ProWein 2019

Both exhibitors and visitors expressed strong satisfaction with ProWein 2019. This included for example Santiago DiazHerrenschmidt， Head of Wines & Spirits Trade Department at Business France. His organization was a member of the Communication partner program， which helped shine a special spotlight on France as a wine producing nation： "France is very proud to be attending as a partner here on this 25th anniversary of ProWein. It represents as an essential annual rendezvouz for the wine， spirits， beer and cider industry. Theres nothing better than being at ProWein！ Santé – and well see you again next year！"

Mindy Crawford， Wholesale Sales Director at W？lffer Estate Vineyard from the USA， reflected the viewpoint of many visitors from overseas. Over 6，900 exhibitors of wines and spirits were registered for this years ProWein. They represented 64 different nations， with the exhibition space clearly structured between ten different exhibition halls based on winegrowing country and region. No other event offers a comparable scale and scope. The largest exhibitor nations at ProWein 2019 were Italy （1，654） and France （1，576）， followed by Germany （978）， Overseas （600）， Austria（335）， Spain （661） and Portugal （387）. There were also an additional 400 providers of spirits.

ProWein as a trend barometer

The four trend topics at ProWein were also a point of interest for visitors and exhibitors alike： trend scouts Stuart Pigott and Paula Redes Sidore explored the topics of "Wines from High Elevations，" "Wine in Cans，" the comeback of "Field Blends" and the renaissance of the varieties "Chenin Blanc& Gamay." Both of their Trend Hour tasting seminars were filled to capacity moments after the doors opened ProWeins many custom presentation zones were also well frequented by international visitors： there was a Champagne Lounge offering a platform for 50 illustrious champagne producers to set their products apart from the 180 overall champagne brands presenting at ProWein； an organic wine area with roughly 300 exhibitors； a tasting zone with the winning wines from MUNDUS VINI； many individual events at the exhibitors stands and the ProWein Forum； and of course the Packaging & Design special exhibition.

ProWine China looks forward to a new successful edition

ProWine China 2019， the latest edition of the ProWein World series of international trade fairs for wine and spirits， has grown rapidly since its entry into China in 2013 and has grown into a true qualified platform for international exhibitors to establish important business contacts in the Chinese market.

ProWine China 2019 was successfully held on November 12th-14th， 2019 at Shanghai New International Expo Center. Wineries and distilleries from all over the world came to the fair and met with importers， distributors， key buyers， industry experts and domestic producers to explore new business opportunities.

Ian Roberts， Managing Director of Hospitality， Food and Beverage of Informa Markets， said： "In the 3 days of ProWine China， Shanghai has been the center of an exhibition of unimaginable dimensions. We had visitors came from all over China. Some even came from very distant provinces， such as Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang."

The number of visitors has reached a new record and the proportion of visitors from other Chinese cities apart from Shanghai has further increased. The three-day event attracted 20，640 professional visitors， which is an increase of 9% from the last edition （2018： 18，936 visitors）. Besides local visitors， more trade visitors from Beijing， Guangdong， Xinjiang， Hainan， Shandong， Liaoning and Inner Mongolia came to visit. It shows that ProWine Chinas influence in the Chinese market is expanding.

For 7 years， ProWine China has always been committed to help educate the wine industry to jointly promote the development of the Chinese wine market. During ProWine China 2019， more than 40 professional master classes were held to help attendees to understand the history and tendency of wine and spirits.

ProWein Outlook： "To another great year"

The next several editions of the fair are already scheduled， with ProWein 2020 slated for 15–17 March in Düsseldorf. One year later ProWein will be welcoming guests from 21–23 March 2021 with an expanded hall layout. The extensive renovation of the Düsseldorf fairgrounds will allow ProWein to incorporate the modern South entrance and its new and adjacent Hall 1.