Why Vinexpo’s new Explorer forum is a much needed opportunity for greater collaboration between buyers
By Richard Siddle
The announcement this week that Vinexpo, which still claims to be the world’s most important trade show, has launched a new Explorer programme whereby it intends to invite who it sees as the world’s Top 100 most important wine buyers to an annual business and tasting forum in different growing wine countries, is interesting in many ways.
It is not only a great way to help promote key countries and wine regions and bring their producers face to face with the world’s most influential wine buyers, it makes Vinexpo more than just a trade show business. A key part of its long term strategy under new chief executive, Gullaume Deglise, and its attempt to put clear daylight between what it sees as its role as being a true partner to the sector, rather than just being an independent trade show organiser that sits outside and away from the daily pressures and challenges of the global wine industry.
Vinexpo has long tried to do that by compiling and presenting its own statistics and research in to the state of the industry and its annual assessment of which countries, varieties and channels are performing better than others.
But this initiative takes in to whole new territory. It is both identifying and then bringing who it sees as the world's top 100 wine buyers together for what will be an annual opportunity to not only discover more about an emerging wine country, but it takes trading with future producers to a new level.
But crucially, and arguably even more importantly, it is giving leading buyers the chance to come together, network and share ideas and experiences that has not been possible before. By repeating the events every year it means those relationships can get stronger and more trusting and whilst Vinexpo has said the mix of its top 100 will change from year to year the core is likely to remain the same.
As they will be the main buyers from different countries then they will also be non-competing and more likely to open up and look to help each other.
Noticeably the forum for the Vinexpo Explorer events also includes workshop sessions where the buyers will be encouraged to sit together and work collectively on discussing and analysing key trading issues and sharing those back to the wider group. Which again is a major first in itself.
It will mean state monopoly buyers can learn directly the demands of a supermarket, or hotel or restaurant chain buyers and vice versa.
As the wine market becomes more global and the pressures increase on buyers to find the supplies of wines they are looking for, then these sort of opportunities are not only welcome but are likely to become more common.
We are already seeing examples of wider collaboration between buyers and wine businesses who are more willing to share ideas and knowledge across non-competing areas.
This is likely to accelerate thanks to the uncertainty that now exists in global markets, and the volatility of the currency exchanges, following last year's Brexit and US presidential elections votes. With further pivotal elections happening again this year in France in May and Germany and September, and the likely subsequent impact they will have on currency rates, then it makes total sense for buyers to be far more supportive of each other than they have ever needed to be before.
VINEX is aware of private forums being set up on social media platforms, notably Twitter, between leading industry figures covering all areas of the wine business interested in sharing information and links about key trade and economic forecasting data. These have emerged in the UK and Europe since the Brexit vote and are proving to be highly influential, invite only forums where leading decision makers are sharing ideas and information and behaving in a far more open and collegiate way than could have been imagined this time last year.
VINEX itself is playing its part by providing a new, open digital platform for buyers, suppliers and producers to openly engage with each other, either directly through doing specific trades or indirectly by posting up their needs and looking for potential partners to work with.
No longer does the world of bulk wine have to rely on chats in corridors at trade tastings or private email conversations. Pricing and supply levels are now far more transparent.
The responsibility on individuals buying huge volumes of wine can only intensify, particularly in a year when there is far less wine to go around and buy.
Any initiatives or ways those buyers can make their jobs easier, or a little more secure, are going to become increasingly popular providing they do not lose any of their competitive advantage.