‘Availability is back’ in Amsterdam at WBWE
By David Kermode
A return to availability was the talk of the bulk wine industry, as buyers and sellers converged on Amsterdam for the 10th World Bulk Wine Exhibition.
As more than six thousand wine professionals descended on the RAI convention centre the mood could not have been more different to a year ago.
Then, after ‘the perfect storm’ of poor harvests the world over, there was a sense of nervousness, bordering on panic, about where the world’s wine would come from, and how much it would cost.
Move forward one year and it all looks very different.
“The number one thing is that availability is back in play, so that will change the dynamics of the market, back in favour of the buyer” says Jonathan Skinner, Head of Procurement at Broadland Wineries, “prices are softening (so) it’s a huge swing, from struggling to find anything, to the market being awash with wine”.
Alex Gittins, Product Manager at Boutinot, agrees that the mood music felt very different this year: “It’s not great for the producers because the market in some places is really going to drop, but for buyers there are potentially lots of opportunities to do interesting things in the year ahead”.
With downward pressure on prices, some buyers talked of holding their nerve, in case of further falls, but others suggested the time was right to reserve supplies.
“I don’t think prices will go much lower than they are now, to be honest, until we see what happens with the next vintages”, says Lesley Cook, Director of Purchasing at Lanchester Wines, “Argentinian prices are about 15c lower than they were at Pro Wein. The price for Malbec is around 20% less than it was a year ago”.
Argentina had the biggest visible presence of any of the 250 exhibitors at the exhibition, with deals to be done after a bumper harvest and the weakening of the Peso.
Eastern Europe was well represented again this year, with a huge stand dedicated to around 20 producers from Moldova, a big emerging producer.
Alongside the dealmaking and networking, there were the annual Bulk Wine Competition awards, plus a range of masterclasses on blending, oak alternatives, climate change and wine trends, including bag-in-box, and there was debate about whether the bulk industry is doing enough to burnish its environmental credentials.
Cruz Liljegren, from Premium Wine Broker, was one of those speaking at the event: “What I think is most interesting is that there are still no companies promoting and marketing the environmental benefits of bottling and packaging wine in the country of consumption”.
The World Bulk Wine Exhibition will hold its first event in China next May in Yantai (Shandong), China’s ‘city of wine' and the country’s key entry port for bulk wine.