Sustainability and technology, the trump cards of wine2wine, business forum signed Vinitaly

The central theme of wine2wine 2019, the business forum signed Vinitaly, in Verona, on November 25 and 26, will be social sustainability, but great attention, as always, will be given to markets, with a focus on distant countries, such as Canada and Japan, and emerging countries, such as India and Macao, and innovation, with the theme of new technologies at the service of wine declined in different themes, from augmented reality to blockchain technology, from artificial intelligence to apps dedicated to the world of Bacchus. Among the most anticipated moments, the announcement of the 100 Italian producers protagonists of OperaWine 2020, the usual prologue signed Wine Spectator at Vinitaly, on stage in Gran Guardia in the city of Verona on April 18 2020: to unveil the companies, will be Bruce Sanderson, senior editor of the US magazine Wine Spectator and among the many speakers of wine2wine, which includes communication specialists and experts, winemakers and Master of Wine, from the founder of Vivino Heini Zachariassen to Maureen Downey, founder of Chai Consulting, from Gaia Gaja to the Master of Wine Regine Lee, from Alessio Planeta to Antonio Capaldo, from Stevie Kim to Professor Attilio Scienza, from Lamberto Frescobaldi to Dominga Cotarella, from Chinese social media specialist Natalie Wang to Jean Charles Viens, one of the main promoters of Italian wine in Hong Kong.
For some time now, one of the main concerns of the global agenda, as most of the words that are on the crest of the wave and arouse discussion among a large public, the popularity of sustainability is likely to make it devoid of substance, for this wine2wine wants to encourage in the wine industry a forward-looking leadership that concretely embraces a more comprehensive definition of sustainability and that knows how to put the social aspects at the center of the issue. The first challenge is that sustainability, in the context of the wine sector, has become synonymous only with its ecological aspects. Climate change has had a direct effect on the economy: it has contributed to the urgent need to address the ecological aspects of sustainability, while organic, biodynamic and sustainable wines have attracted global attention among both producers and consumers, becoming the focus of discussions on sustainability in many forums on the wine industry.
But sustainability should not be sought exclusively in its ecological aspects: its meaning goes far beyond that. On the one hand, in fact, it is a matter of being aware of the impacts - both positive and negative - that the wine business has along the entire value chain of the wine. Wineries and professionals should take measures to mitigate vulnerability to social risk and avoid damage caused by professional practices. It is essential to stress that social sustainability should not be pitted against profitability, but rather as a complement and enhancement of it. Wine professionals can and must do even more than this: social sustainability is also about cultivating business practices to promote integration and well-being at work. For all operators in the sector, this means joining together and cooperating to make the wine community more inclusive, diverse, democratic, equitable and cohesive, so as to acquire, as a system, greater credibility in preserving the cultural heritage of wine and in sharing it with an increasingly diverse global community.
The increasingly complex technological innovations that have now come to characterize the modern world of wine, in many ways in response to the changes in the global economy, fully fall within the context of global challenges. The wine industry, in fact, has to face complex challenges and opportunities, linked to the increase of competition and to the more and more recurrent economic crises. Thus, technology becomes fundamental in remodeling the organization and distribution of wine, but it also intervenes in the creation of value, on production processes and, above all, on how wineries interact with consumers.
Many new technologies were born as a response to the challenges faced by the wine industry, with the intent to defend and improve the value and profitability of the product, but complexity and cost of these technologies risk leaving behind a significant part of the production world, so wine2wine will focus on critical dialogues on how the whole wine community can embrace technologies and make innovations as inclusive as possible. Keeping up with the world of new technologies and their potential has thus become a necessity: from blockchain technology to augmented reality, from artificial intelligence tools to the latest wine apps, every innovation will be analyzed by some of the leading experts in technology applied to the world of wine, with the aim of understanding what technological applications are really capable of “enriching” the world of wine.

Focus - wine2wine 2019: the program
The works start on November 25, with many meetings dedicated to sustainability: it starts with “Why corporate social responsibility is important: how to connect people and environment”, led by Kristina Kelley, senior director of corporate public relations at E. & J. Gallo Winery, followed by “Different models of sustainability and their value for your winery”, with Robert Joseph, editorial consultant and columnist at Meininger’s Wine Business International. Gaia Gaja will then discuss the theme “How to mitigate the effects of climate change in the vineyard”, while Tim Banks, sales and marketing director of Ornellaia, will present “The Ornellaia Vendemmia d'artista (VDA) project: environmental, social, cultural and economic sustainability”.
At the same time, Professor Attilio Scienza, scientific head of the Vinitaly International Academy, will lead the advanced courses of international students, focusing them on “Etna: The Mountain of Fire” and “The Wines of Forgotten Volcanoes”, while the Master of Wine, Sonal Holland, will present “India Wine Insider: a research on consumers and how to sell Italian wine in India”, colleague Annette Scarfe “How to market your wines in Singapore, a new market with high potential” and Lenz Moser, chief enologist at Chateau Changyu Moser XV, “The flourishing Chinese wine industry and its possible effects on the demand for European wines”. And again, on the subject of innovation, Rodrigo Sepùlveda Schulz, founder of Expon Capital, will talk about “Blockchain technology and artificial intelligence for the wine industry”, and Maureen Downey about “Blockchain Revolution: how wines and rare and fine spirits are protected, traced and commercialized”. The announcement of the producers of OperaWine 2020, unveiled by Bruce Sanderson, closes the proceedings of the first day.
On November 26, we will focus on technology and innovation: we will start with “Augmented Reality: what future for the storytelling brand?”, together with Hannah Luxenberg Tono, Californian producer and director, while Heini Zachariassen, founder of Vivino, will talk about “How to use apps to directly reach customers”, the e-commerce expert Gérard Spatafora about “How to sell wine online” and Tom Cochran, professor of Digital Marketing at American University, about “Digital transformation and the wine industry”. So, the young people at the center of two insights, two sides of the same coin: “Once you were younger, hornier and poorer: let's break the myth of the Millennials”, presented by Joe Fattorini, host of the TV program “The Wine Show”, and “Harder, better prepared, faster, stronger: because the Millennials are the best thing that has ever happened to wine”, which is the point of view of Polly Hammond, founder of 5forests. Jc Viens will lead the wine professionals in “Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao, what opportunities for Italian producers”, Miles Beale will discuss the delicate theme “Brexit and market strategy for Italian wine producers”, and journalist Shigeru Hayashi will talk about “Targeted promotion and exports of Italian wine in Japan: what prospects?”. Also to be noted is “The power of Chinese social media in wine marketing and sales”, edited by Natalie Wang, and “Best practice in design and branding” with Giles Darwin, for years at the helm of companies such as Lewis Moberly, JDO and Elmwood.