Trade talk: Why attend the London Wine Fair?

With the 36th London Wine Fair just days away, we ask key members of the trade what they expect to get out of this year’s fair, and why they choose to return each year.

The London Wine Fair will take place from May 3 to 5

Featuring 700 exhibitors and 10,000 wines, along with a comprehensive range of debates, seminars and masterclasses, LWF 2016 is set to be the biggest and most diverse yet. Across the fair, more than 400 grape varieties will be represented this year, a record according to organisers, including the more obscure Öküzgözü, Vidiano and Weißer Herold varieties.

This year the fair has upped is tech, launching an official directory via Bottlebooks. Since it launched two months ago, 15,000 searches for wines exhibiting at the fair have been carried out, with 4,760 of wines that will be at the fair available on the database. This service has see a 57% sign up rate among exhibitors.

In terms of searches, France was the most searched for, country of origin, followed by Italy, Argentina and Australia. Bordeaux was the most searched for region, followed by Mendoza/Cuyo. Interestingly, red wines have been searched for 2.5 times more than white, with the most searched for price point the premium (£20 – £50) category.

“We will be opening our doors next Tuesday on the most technologically advanced wine event in the world,” said event director Ross Carter. “As a result of our partnership with Bottlebooks we are now able to offer an unparalleled search and booking system that returns data giving insights into visitor trends and buying priorities.”

For more on what’s happening at this year’s fair check out our guide here. Still not convinced of the benefits of attending this year’s fair? Find out what key members of the wine trade had to say when asked why attending the London Wine Fair was so important to their business and what they expect to get out of the event.

Click through for their responses…

Marie-Sophie Hartl, Head Of Export West, Austrian Wine Marketing Board

“The UK is an important export market for Austrian wines and currently holds the fifth position value-wise. What makes it so precious for us is the constant growth we have seen in the past years and the good price-volume ratio our exports are seeing there. We have the impression that the market is really opening up to more experiential wines, where our unusual but food-friendly wines work well.”

Steve Moody, Managing Director, John E Fells

“The LWF is an ideal opportunity for Fells shareholders and principals to connect with our customers. Fells’ large stand is usually very busy every day from start to finish. Our visitors have the opportunity to renew acquaintances and perhaps taste the latest vintages, or even have a sneak preview of a new wine to be launched.

“If our many principals leave the fair feeling that they have had the opportunity to tell their stories and present their wines to relevant interested customers, then we would consider that a positive result.”

Richard Cochrane, Managing Director, Félix Solís Avantis UK

“The London Wine Fair provides a shop window to the UK market in the main. After the growth in importance of ProWein, it is encouraging to see London increase in relevance this year. The unprecedented scale of change currently taking place in the UK is changing the relevance of all the key European industry events. This May is emerging as a useful opportunity for Felix Solis to launch new brands and NPD, and engage with new and existing customers.”

Chris Davies, UK director GCF Exclusif, Les Grands Chais de France

“The London Wine Fair is important for Les Grands Chais de France because it’s the one time of the year where the majority of the UK trade is under one roof at the same time. It’s a key opportunity to show our most exciting launches of the year, and network with current clients and influencers to see if we can drum up new business leads.

“With the depth and scale of our business it’s also a great opportunity to show our ‘complete picture’ within one space. Don’t forget that we are the largest producer of crémant and that we produce a huge range of premium spirits.”

Joseph Walsh, UK and ireland Commercial Director, Distell

“London Wine Fair is essential for meeting customers, allowing us to demonstrate that we are not just a bulk wine producer. South African estate wines are enjoying a real renaissance in the UK market and have never been more popular.

“We have a number of wonderful wines in our portfolio, including award-winning estates such as Neethlingshof, Uitkyk, Stellenzicht and Zonnebloem, and the London Wine Fair gives us the opportunity to showcase these wines, alongside our better-known brands, to interested buyers across all channels.”

Paul Letheren, owner, Off-Piste Wines

“We see our retail partners a lot and work with them closely, but the real focus of the London Wine Fair is to see the customers we don’t get to see enough – our convenience customers, or independent customers who buy through wholesalers for example. It gives us an opportunity to speak to a broader customer.”

Neil Anderson, marketing director, Kingsland

“It is very important to support LWF, and although there was concern when it was at Excel, bringing it back to Olympia has really rejuvenated it. Last year the Kingsland stand was one of the busiest and we’re already jam-packed with meetings. We’ll be meeting existing customers and there is the opportunity to work with new customers. It is crucial to bring new things to the market place and the LWF is a great arena to showcase them.”

Robin Copestick, director, Copestick Murray

“The key for us at the London Wine Fair is that it is our annual opportunity to show our key customers our full selection of wines and discuss our plans for the next 12 months. It is also great for our customers to be able to meet our main suppliers. As our business continues to grow it is important that our customers and suppliers get the opportunity to share our strategies and philosophies.”

Gareth Groves, managing director, Walker & Wodehouse

“LWF remains very important to the UK trade and attracts many independent merchants in particular. For Walker & Wodehouse, it’s a chance to catch up with current customers, meet potential new ones and show the new products we are really excited about bringing to the market this year.”

Nik Darlington, founder, Red Squirrel

“The London Wine Fair is our biggest and most important event after our own autumn portfolio tasting and was the show that really announced Red Squirrel to the trade back in 2014. Esoterica in particular has been an immeasurably valuable launch pad for us as an importer.

“The LWF organisers really seem to understand what is important to smaller importers and go out of their way to ensure we feel as much part of the event as the bigger players – and I think that is born out on the day by the genuine excitement around the Esoterica section. It’s a great thing to be a part of.”

Julia Trustram Eve, marketing director, English Wine Producers

“LWF is a great platform for our producers to engage with the UK wine trade and for different reasons – meeting up with existing customers and seeking new ones; raising the profile of English wines by exhibiting together on the one stand. But our attendance is part of a much wider drive to highlight English wines and reinforce the strong message of growth and investment in this industry, the exciting and award-winning styles that we produce and the prospect of much more to come.”

Hemant Kotecha, Managing Director, Myliko

“The LWF is a very important event in our calendar, both as an opportunity to meet with our existing UK customers and as an opportunity to make acquaintance with exciting new prospects within the industry. Our key objective this for year is to distinguish our portfolio for each of the channels – this will allow us to show the depth and breadth of wines for each sector.”