Interview with Michael Degen, Executive Director Messe Düsseldorf GmbH 15 March 2023

Düsseldorf, Business, 15 March 2023

ProWein is the most important and largest wine fair in the world and takes place in Düsseldorf from 19 to 21 March. Around 6000 winemakers, spirits and craft beer producers are expected to attend the industry trade fair.

But how did ProWein manage to become No. 1 in contrast to other international trade fairs?

Alethea Mag received an exclusive interview from Michael Degen, Executive Director, Messe Düsseldorf GmbH.

"If the Germans come too, so much the better."

ProWein takes place at Messe Düsseldorf ©ProWein

Michael Degen, Executive Director, Messe Düsseldorf GmbH ©ProWein

Düsseldorf, 15 March 2023: The whole of Düsseldorf is looking forward to ProWein, because in addition to the international guests, the side event ProWein goes city has 100 events in store for wine lovers to attend. For the wine industry, however, it's not about fun, because ProWein is the most important and largest wine fair in the world. Alethea Mag received an exclusive interview from Michael Degen, Executive Director, Messe Düsseldorf GmbH.

The most important question was, of course, how ProWein managed to become the biggest and most important wine fair in the world.

Right from the start, ProWein went for international acquisition, in contrast to the big wine fairs in Italy or even France. ProWein is constantly expanding with satellite events in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai, Sao Paulo and next year in Tokyo. ProWine Shanghai is celebrating its 10th anniversary and is described in the industry as the leading trade fair for the wine and spirits industry in mainland China.

In numbers, this means that (as of 9 March 2023) there are 1455 exhibitors from Italy, 928 from France, around 700 from Germany, 691 from Spain, 110 from Greece, 115 from North America, 132 from Argentina and 73 from Chile, among many others. In addition to trade buyers, food retail buyers and discounters, representatives of the monopolies from Sweden and Canada are also expected.

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Which distribution channels do the vintners prefer? Is it end customers, tastings or trade fairs?

Michael Degen: Every vintner has to decide for himself whether he goes via the trade or direct sales, also via their own internet. As a trade fair, ProWein stands for a high level of internationality. Here in Düsseldorf, a Canadian buyer meets an Australian vintner; that is our concept. Consumer fairs, are more regional.

In the current situation, how many exhibitors and visitors from Asia do you expect?

M. D.: If we have 5 % Asian visitors at ProWein, it doesn't sound much, but they are the relevant buyers who are decisive for the winemakers. If Japanese visitors come, representing a very high market share in Japan, it is highly relevant. With our concept of ProWein satellite events, we are represented in Asia and other regions. We have offshoot events in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai, Sao Paulo and next year in Tokyo. This allows us to cover more of the visitors in the other markets.

You update the exhibitor numbers every day and 1455 exhibitors are from Italy, 928 from France, and 691 from Spain. Does that reflect the preference of the wine consumers of the countries?

M.D.: It is a reflection of the market shares in many countries. France, Italy, Spain are more represented in many European countries, but also in North America and Asia. The preferences are high, but the production volume is also higher. In the home markets of France and Italy, wine has been consumed increasingly less in recent years. In France it is very concise and the wine producers are forced to go more into the export markets.

Which visitors do you expect?

M.D.: Specialist retailers, buyers from food retail and discount stores, international importers. But also the representatives of the state monopolies, e.g. from Sweden and Canada, are particularly interesting buyers for the wine merchants. When they buy Riesling for the whole of Sweden, this is volume.

International acquisition from the start. And if the Germans come too, so much the better.

How did you manage to make ProWein the biggest wine fair in the world?

M.D.: We are not a purely German fair, rather a highly international one. Almost 90 per cent of the approximately 6,000 exhibitors come from outside Germany. There are fairs in France and Italy that are dominated by vintners from that country. At WineParis or Vinexpo, out of 3,000 exhibitors, 2,500 are from France and only 500 are international. We, on the other hand, did not start with German exhibitors. This is a concept that capital goods fairs such as Drupa and Interpack are also very familiar with. We went the opposite way and tried to bring vintners from many countries to Düsseldorf. And if the Germans come too, so much the better.

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...Updated:

It was also announced at the ProWein press conference on 13 March:

Value growth in German wine exports

According to the German Wine Institute DWI, the average price paid by producers ex-farm for a litre of exported wine rose by 20% in comparison to 3.15 euros. Thus the total value of German wine exports rose to 370 million, although the export volume fell by 3% to 1.17 million hectolitres. According to the DWI, the development is due to price adjustments, against the background of increased production costs.

Based on a NielsenIQ wine market analysis, the DWI also announced that 10 per cent less wine was purchased, which led to a 6.5 per cent decline in sales. This because of the increased cost of living, households concentrated on purchasing necessary products.

Organic wines

These wines have a loyal buyer base and were exempt from the decline in consumption.

Rosé wines developed positively.

Online wine trade

Here the market share of wines traded online rose by 2 percent to 13 percent.

The LEH lost 2 percentage points among the wine buying outlets, but remained the most important wine sourcing point for consumers.

Other important trends:

Of course, ProWein is the stage for important trends:

The World of Zero@ProWein will premiere in Hall 1. Globally, the "no and low" category is one of the fastest growing beverage segments.

prowein.de

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