One thousand two hundred top buyers, a figure up by 20% over the 2023 edition and by 70% compared to 2 years ago: this is the incoming target that Vinitaly, together with ICE Trade Agency, has set itself for the 56^th edition scheduled at Veronafiere next 14-17 April.

Photo : Veronafiere-Ennevi

“This is the first presentation of Vinitaly at the European Parliament, which is the central hub of the Community Policies, with the aim of adding a spotlight on Italian wine, which has in Vinitaly precisely its trade brand of global promotion, » said Veronafiere President Federico Bricolo in Brussels today. « And with this logic of promotion we have also recently finished a world tour that lasted more than a semester to make a thoughtful selection of the main buyers to invite to Vinitaly. The target has been reached, » Bricolo added, « but in addition to success in terms of numbers we above all expect a very positive response in terms of the quality of demand. A task that is also possible thanks to the collaboration and support of the Italian government, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, the Ministry of Made in Italy, Embassies and the institutional bodies responsible for promotion, first and foremost the ICE Foreign Trade Agency. A system of relationships which has helped Vinitaly strengthen its know-how by activating an increasingly close sharing programme with sector players on a global scale. »

The protagonists of international demand selected, invited and hosted in Verona come from 65 countries. They will be joined – according to estimates – by around 30,000 international operators travelling to Vinitaly from more than 140 countries. The largest contingent of such guests will arrive from United States with more than 15% of overall attendance, followed by 3 other strategic non-EU locations: Canada, China and the United Kingdom, which together account for 23% of arrivals. On a macro-regional level, the largest audience of top buyers comes from North America and Europe (each with an incidence of 26%), followed by Asia and Oceania (23%), Eastern Europe (13%), Central and South America (7%) and Africa (4%). Overall, the 65 countries represented cover 95% of the total Italian wine exports.

« We are firmly convinced, » added the Managing Director of Veronafiere, Maurizio Danese, « that we can achieve a great deal on behalf of a sector of which we feel we are an integral part. In these by no means easy times, we feel an even greater duty to provide right answers to those who invest in the trade fair. The first keyword is undoubtedly ‘business’, the second is ‘awareness’ of a strategic as well as identifying asset for the Italian and European economy which is increasingly viewed with alarming concerns. For this reason, on the occasion of the 1^st National Made in Italy Day (15 April), we will present, together with the Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, the research titled If you take away wine from Italy– a plunge into a half empty glass. » A study carried out by the Uiv-Vinitaly Observatory and Prometeia into the impact that Italy would suffer in socio-economic, tourist and identity terms from a hypothetical disappearance of wine from the country ».

The 56^th Vinitaly is already a sold-out with 4,000 exhibiting companies occupying over 100,000 square metres of show area. The 28^th SOL International olive oil trade show was held at the same time (Area C); Xcellent Beers (Area I) and the 25^th Enolitech, the International exhibition of wine, oil and beer production technologies (Show Hall F) These three events bring the number of companies hosted in the 17 show halls to almost 4,300 from 30 countries.

This article was published March 22nd, 2024.