Wine Paris and Vinexpo prove they have what it takes to be a global player
By Richard Siddle
Now February 12-14 2017 probably means nothing to you when it comes to looking back on pivotal dates in the world calendar of wine. But in a few years time we could look back on that time as being a pivotal moment, at least in terms of where in the world the wine industry gathers to do business.
For that was the date that Comexposium, the third largest trade events organiser in the world, running 135 separate shows a year with 3 million visitors, first decided to enter the wine industry by running VinoVision, a show dedicated to cool climate wines, in conjunction with the generic bodies of the Loire, Alsace and Burgundy.
Those who went to that first VinoVision event would certainly not have come away thinking this was going to be an event that was to send shockwaves around the world. A nice, well organised show, yes, that shone the light on regional France and cool climate wines, but you could easily cover it in a day.
Crucially Comexposium, however, clearly liked what it saw and six months later, in October 2017, it started to really show an interest in the wine industry when it went out and acquired the Adhesion Group, owners at the time of Vinisud and the World Bulk Wine Exhibition.
Its decision to move ViniSud up to Paris to run alongside VinoVision in February 2108 made you wander if there was some bigger ideas at play here. For a start the initial 5,000 sqm VinoVision event was increased to 12,000 sqm to accommodate VinoVision and with it exhibitor numbers up from around 500 to nearer 1,200.
Then last year came the inaugural Wine Paris, incorporating VinoVision and ViniSud, which attracted 2,000 exhibitors, 84% of which came from France, and 26,700 visitors, including 30% from outside France.
The pressure was on last week to see how Wine Paris could build on its breakthrough year, particularly now that it had also brought Vinexpo into the fold - the first time the two businesses had worked together since agreeing a joint venture in January to combine and run all its shows together.
How was it?
Anyone attending last week’s event will have been in no doubt. This was a breakthrough trade show. This is what Comexposium is all about. This is why it has already invested three years in the wine business.
The event was another increase on the year before, bringing in 29,280 visitors, versus 26,000 and 2,800 exhibitors, some 800 more than in 2019.
Of course, it was far from perfect. But in terms of setting down a marker for the years ahead and if you are in the business of buying or selling wine from around the world, then put ‘Paris’ and the ‘second week in February’ in your diary.
It’s clearly got a long way to go before the powers that be at Messe Dusseldorf and ProWein start breaking out in a cold sweat, but it would be a safe bet to say Wine Paris/Vinexpo was the first item on the agenda the morning after last week’s Paris show finished.
First year review But before we get ahead of ourselves what did Comexposium, Wine Paris and Vinexpo think of their inaugural event?
Pascale Ferranti, director of Wine Paris, said she was “incredibly satisfied” both with the jump in the number of exhibitors from France and how it had also started to bring in more international producers as well.
There were 200 more exhibitors within Wine Paris itself (2,000 to 2,200) which allowed it to take over two halls. Overseas visitors were also up from 30% to 35%.
Rodolphe Lameyse, chief executive of Vinexpo, was certainly playing things down when he described it as “OK” for its first year. “We have to be realistic about our expectations for this first show.”
The pressure was also far more on Vinexpo to get things right as “moving to Paris would be a challenge and how it would be perceived,” he said.
It’s clear from both of them that year one was very much about setting the scene, and making the case for what is about to come.
Or as Lameyse said it had to “tick a number of boxes”.
“So overall it has worked. The KPIs have been achieved. But there are also so many things we want to improve. We will raise the bar against next year and then again and again the years after.”
Paris or Dusseldorf or both?
Lameyse said that ultimately, in time, the challenge and opportunity was to create an event that meant at some stage “a choice will have to be made” by producers and buyers about where they want to invest their time and money. Paris in February or Dusseldorf in March.
“That’s the elephant in the room. That’s what our clients are already saying.”
How fast it can achieve will lie in how successfully they are able to bring the strengths of Wine Paris and Vinexpo closer together as part of this joint venture.
The 2021 show will have a new name - with probably Paris in the title (how about Wine Paris Expo?) - and far more integration between the two sides.
“It’s new, so it will evolve,” says Ferranti. “The next step is to harmonise both fairs. The message is that as an industry we are stronger together. So we will create one big event that allows the big international brands to have their place at the fair (L’Avenue at Vinexpo Paris) and to integrate the spirits area more.”
Lameyse added: “There are things we can improve on our side and there are things they can do on their side. We need to make sure we deliver from both sides and are focused on delivering that and ready for 2021.”
What they have both succeeded in doing is make Paris and this event a more than credible event for the world of wine to come together and do business in February. Making it, crucially, the first major international meeting place of the year.
Being one of the key capitals of the world also makes it an easy and relatively cheap place to attend. Be it the network of flights or by rail and Eurostar and the super efficient Metro system.
There were certainly some New World players in and around the event, but you had to go looking for them. It’s going to be a big challenge to get the New World to really wake up to Wine Paris now that they have invested so heavily in ProWein, and it also falls post harvest.
Andreas Clark, chief executive of Wine Australia, had taken the time to check the event out and whilst impressed by his first impressions he was more than cautious about it being able to convince too many producers to move from ProWein, or come to Europe twice in two months - at least yet.
But if Wine Paris/Vinexpo cracks the New World then ProWein really will have a major competitor on its hands.