We are coming back from a “different” Prowein than the ones we remember, for us a more concentrated, focused, calm and at the same time operational Prowein. Our last participation is pre-pandemic and checking the flight invoices it was 2019. A Prowein with a bang if we remember correctly, so much so that we were talking about 6800 exhibitors, with an attendance of over 60,000 visitors. Impressive numbers indeed.
According to the fair’s official figures, that year there were around 4200 exhibitors and around 42,000 visitors from 128 countries around the world.
Impressive numbers anyway, but beyond the numbers, we asked some wine professionals with long experience – commercial, institutional and organisational – what their impressions were after the fair was over, after three days of intense work and months of preparation.
Here is the point of view of Giacomo Giordano, winemaker for Cantina del Castello, a company whose products mirror the territory and are created with the aim of enhancing the characteristics of Soave while respecting tradition, and which offers tastings and wine experiences in a truly unique location. Giacomo Giordano, at Cantina del Castello, is in charge of export sales and winemaking.
“As I have already discussed with other colleagues, this 2025 edition was a very special edition that made me reflect. Personally, I started my experience with Prowein in 2007 and I remember that it was not yet that big, but it was a fair where more distributors and importers exhibited than wine producers, and you tried to make an appointment to open business contacts, going around the various stands with a briefcase with your wines to propose.
In 2008, I started exhibiting my wines as a producer and I have to say that for me it was always the best B2B fair for our sector for many years. Thanks to the work developed there, I was able to make myself known and open up European and world markets to which I then exported successfully for quite some time.
In my opinion, Prowein’s first setback was in the post covid period. We all saw costs rise for hotels, flights, restaurants and last but not least exhibition space. To this we must add that in the last two editions, there have been continuous airline or public transport strikes during the fair, which have exasperated the various visitors to this event. I had the feeling that instead of devising something to attract producers and consequently importers, they were pulling in opposite directions. And in times of crisis, a winery’s promotional choices are shrewd. One decides from year to year which events to attend and how.
Then you add in the fact that a few weeks before Prowein, Vinexpo – Wine Paris appeared a few weeks ago, and we know that for better or worse, novelty attracts and with lower costs. So the scenario becomes complex.
Having said that to say that Prowein is dead, as some believe, I think it is premature. Although the turnout was objectively lower than at previous editions, I had some interesting contacts. If I were asked to give a piece of advice to try to reposition and reinvigorate this historic event, I would say that it would be a good idea to review the costs, to bring back some producers who have abandoned it to exhibit their excellence and consequently attract new importers, buyers or operators in the sector. Clearly my point of view is as a wine businessman, whose strategy is devoted to quality and brand differentiation, with an efficient approach to the allocation of winery resources’.
Let us now read the impressions of a dear friend, whom we esteem highly, a wine professional who has travelled the world, Elisa Semprebon, Export Area Manager at Pasqua Vigneti e Cantine S.p.A., a historical reality of the Veronese and international wine scene, which continues to grow and which in 2024 recorded +6% and a turnover of € 63.5 million.
“Prowein has confirmed itself as an important international showcase, and the balance of our participation is positive, the result of intense pre-fair preparation work. However, the world of wine is changing rapidly and, after this latest event, it is inevitable to question the actual effectiveness of traditional fairs. Does it still make sense to continue investing in more events or is it more strategic to reallocate the budgets allocated to these events to strengthen direct visits to the markets? Perhaps the future lies in a more focused approach, choosing a single fair on which to concentrate resources and energy. Surely waiting for things to change without changing one’s approach brings no results.”
After the point of view of two wine managers from the private world… we will present you the point of view of two professionals from the institutional world, again from Prowein, to testify that this fair is far from still not being a reference, at least for some time yet. Here is the link…
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