ProWein reports record numbers in 2018

Wine and spirit trade show ProWein welcomed a record 60,000 trade visitors to its flagship event in Düsseldorf this year.

Held on 18 to 20 March, the international trade fair also welcomed over 6,870 exhibitors from 64 countries, up on 6,615 exhibitors from 62 nations recorded last year.

Over 60,000 trade visitors made the journey to Düsseldorf this year, up from 58,500 in 2017.

Commenting on the record figures, Hans Werner Reinhard, managing director at Messe Düsseldorf said: “Whoever has made their passion for wines and spirits their profession simply cannot afford to miss ProWein in Dusseldorf”.

One in two visitors to ProWein came from overseas, hailing from 113 countries in total. One in two visitors also said that they had found new suppliers for their products while just under 95% said they had fully achieved all of their objectives at the fair.

Among the top exhibiting nations were Italy with 1,700 exhibitors, France with 1,550 exhibitors and Germany with 990 exhibitors as well as 700 exhibitors from the US, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, Australia and New Zealand.

Monika Reule, general manager of the German Wine Institute (DWI) said: “At this year’s ProWein trade visitors from at home and abroad took an avid interest in wines from German wine-growing regions. Especially the lighter but highly refined 2017 vintage white wines were received very well since they are in line with consumers’ current taste. This is why German exhibitors take positive stock as the trade fair draws to a close. They had special praise again for the highly professional trade fair audience.”

The spirits section of ProWein hosted 400 exhibitors from 30 nations, and featured products such as brandies, whiskey, Cognac, Scotch, grappa and cachaça.

Commenting on ProWein’s focus on ‘craft’ under its ‘same but different’ heading, Marius Berlemann, director of ProWein, said: “Our new offering was received extremely well. This shows we have our finger on the pulse of the industry here and have succeeded in staging the theme right to the point. We are on the right track here and look forward to expanding the concept even further”.

Around 500 events and guided tastings were organised at the exhibitors’ stands on themes including Champagne, spirits, craft drinks, organic and bio-dynamic wines, maturity and potential, food and wine pairings as well as on marketing and logistics issues of relevance to retail.

Next on the ProWein agenda will be ProWine Asia, due to held in Singapore on 24 to 27 April. ProWine China will follow in Shanghai from 13 to 15 November. The next ProWein is scheduled to take place from 17 to 19 March 2019.