Beynat defends value of Vinexpo

Robert Beynat, chief executive of Vinexpo, has defended the Bordeaux event in the wake of the rising popularity of other European trade shows such as ProWein.

Comments from Kobus Basson, managing director of Kleine Zalze, suggested that ProWein had “raised the bar” for wine companies hoping to do business in Northern and Central Europe and that the German show was “slick” in comparison to Vinexpo.

Beynat responded by telling the drinks business: “Even when companies might not have had the best of years financially, they still make sure they are at Vinexpo and that speaks volumes about the quality and standing of this show.

“At other events, such as ProWein and the London International Wine Fair, you don’t get the same level of personnel on the stands. You don’t get the big bosses.

“Sure, if you are looking to sell in the UK then you go to London and talk to the UK-based export manager, but here at Vinexpo you get to see the boss of each company as well as the people who look after all the markets around the world. The big guns always turn up to Vinexpo. No other trade show can say that.”

Beynat went on to explain the amount of work and investment that needs to be made in order to put on the sprawling exhibition every two years.

“Our turnover as a company is close to €20 million,” he explained. “The company is profitable but every year we are investing in a great many different things.

“We have the IWSR studies that we fund, we have to pay for the floating bridge across the lake, we have to run shuttle bus services, and of course we are now also running a show in Hong Kong.”

Speaking of the repeated use of a woman as the face of Vinexpo Asia-Pacific on all the marketing materials, as was the case last year, Beynat said it reflected the increasing importance of women in the Asian wine-buying market.

“We trust women when it comes to buying wine,” he stated. “They are the ones who tend to go to the supermarkets, so they tend to be the ones who buy the wines.

“This is particularly true in Asia. The Asian women are not afraid to try new products and experiment with different types of wines, whereas the men are too afraid of potentially losing face in front of their peers that they will more or less always stick with what they know.”

Click here for a video interview with Robert Beynat

Alan Lodge, 22.06.2011