1,200 top buyers from the U.S., Canada, China, and the U.K., a number up 20 percent over the 2023 edition and 70 percent more than 2 years ago: this is the incoming target that Vinitaly, together with Ice-Agenzia, has set for its 56th edition, scheduled at Veronafiere from April 14 to 17. The event was presented at a press conference in Brussels, at the European Parliament.
“This is the first presentation of Vinitaly that we are making at the European Parliament, which is the nerve center of Community policy, with the aim of helping to shine an additional spotlight on Italian wine, which has precisely in Vinitaly its trade fair brand of global promotion. – said Veronafiere President Federico Bricolo – 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 is reached but, in addition to numerical success, we expect above all a very positive response in terms of the quality of the demand represented. A work made possible also thanks to the collaboration and support of the Italian government, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, the Ministry of Made in Italy, the Embassies and the institutional bodies in charge of promotion, Ice Agency in primis. A system of relationships thanks to which Vinitaly has strengthened its know-how, activating an increasingly close sharing program with players in the sector on a global scale.”
The foreign demand players selected, invited and hosted in Verona come from 65 countries, to which will be added-according to estimates-about 30,000 foreign operators who will converge on Vinitaly from more than 140 nations. The largest contingent of guests remains the U.S. with more than 15% of the arrivals, followed by 3 other strategic non-EU places: Canada, China and the United Kingdom, which together add up to 23% of the arrivals.
At the macro-region level, the largest audience of top buyers comes from North America and Europe (each at 26%), followed by Asia and Oceania (23%), Eastern Europe (13%), Central and South America (7%) and Africa (4%). Overall, the 65 countries represented are worth 95 percent of total made-in-Italy wine exports.
“There is a strong conviction,” added Veronafiere CEO Maurizio Danese, “that we can do much in favor of a sector of which we feel an integral part. In a period that is certainly not easy, we feel even more obliged to give the right answers to those who invest in the fair. The first key word is undoubtedly ‘business,’ the second is ‘awareness’ of a strategic – as well as identity – capital for the Italian and European economy increasingly under the lens of alarmist theses.
For this reason, on the occasion of the 1st National Day of Made in Italy (April 15) we have presented, together with the Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, the research If you take wine away from Italy, a dive into the glass half empty. A study, carried out by the Uiv-Vinitaly Observatory and Prometeia, on the impact that the Belpaese would suffer in socio-economic, tourism and identity terms from a hypothetical disappearance of wine from Italy.”
At the 56th edition of Vinitaly, sold-out exhibition center with over 100 thousand net square meters with 4,000 exhibiting companies. Also at the same time were the 28th Sol, International olive oil trade show (area C); Xcellent Beers (area I); and the 25th Enolitech, International exhibition of wine, oil and beer production technologies (hall F). With the three shows, the number of companies present in the 17 halls of the fair rises to nearly 4,300 from 30 countries.