This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
LWF announces bigger European presence
The London Wine Fair has announced exhibitor bookings are up 36% with an increase in European pavilions and the return of several important UK agencies.
The show’s organisers report that the Douro, Greece, Slovakia and the Basque Country are all taking independent pavilions for the first time, while Wines of Georgia again and ViniPortugal is bringing 36 producers all seeking UK representation – which chimes well with today’s other news that volume and value sales of Portuguese table wine have risen over 30% in the past year.
In addition, Wines of Germany has announced an increased stand presence, as has the Prosecco Consorzio.
Organisers said that the presence of so many European exhibitors signalled a continued belief in the UK market despite the continuing uncertainty over ‘Brexit’.
From the UK, Buckingham Schenk, Felix Solis Avantis and Carson Wines will all return to the fair and Ehrmanns will exhibit for the full three days for the first time since 2014.
Condor Wines, Barton Brownsdon & Sadler and Broadland Wineries have also applied for enlarged stands this year.
Head of the London Wine Fair, Hannah Tovey, commented: “So far we are seeing most of the growth in bookings coming from international exhibitors, specifically the Old World regions. We see this as really significant, given that the show will take place less than two months after Brexit may well have become reality.
“European wineries will be out in force looking to trade with the UK – many of them for the first time. Despite the uncertainty, the UK remains an important and mature market for many wineries, especially those which are targeting the high end on-trade and independent sectors.”
The LWF will take place from Monday 20 May to Wednesday 22 May at London Olympia.
Click here for more details.
LWF cant be a fair for producers and agencies at the same time, if it tries, it will never grow, it will simply replace producers/agencies year by year with the numbers eventually shrinking. The UK is a massive market for wine makers and wine in general, but until LWF gets the format right, it will never be amongst the top wine fairs. To me, it looks like that the LWF has no direction and lives by the bookings, as long as they are enough to cover the cost, the show will go on.
LSW cannot be a fair for producers looking for representation and agencies at the same time, if it tries, it will eventually fail. It has already moved to a smaller venue from the happy days of the Excel and it is filling the spaces by replacing producers/agencies year by year, for such a small venue and so many producers and agencies, it is not difficult, however, it wont last for ever. The UK is a massive market and every winery in the world wants to come here, it should be easy to create a first class event, still, the organizer don’t seems to have a direction and are driven by bookings, until there are enough to cover the cost, the show will go on.