Vinitaly in June: “checks to protect companies”. But the first doubts advance

We live in a time that is anything but ordinary, with a critical scenario that changes from hour to hour. In the last 24 hours, for example, the Oms has declared that the crisis from Covid-19 is a pandemic, in Italy came a crackdown that has completely closed down activities such as bars and restaurants, among other things, while the U.S. has decided to suspend flights to and from Europe for 30 days. It is impossible, in any case, to have certainties, and every position is legitimate, although ready to be overturned by the facts. As coming to our sector, the Vinitaly affair, which VeronaFiere, after several meetings in the past weeks (which, however, at this stage, seem to be eras) with representatives of the supply chain, has decided to move from the traditional period of April, to mid-June, from 14 to 17, in Verona. This decision was initially shared, at least until yesterday, when the Federazione Italiana Vignaioli Indipendenti (Fivi), the Italian Federation of Independent Winemakers, officially asked VeronaFiere to skip 2020, and go directly to 2021.
Too many activities in the vineyard for small companies in that period, among the official reasons, but also, in reality, the fear that many foreign operators, by their own will or by the measures of the States, will not be present. A position which, it seems, from the rumors, gathered today, other representatives of the supply chain are also thinking about. VeronaFiere, for its part, in a letter sent to all exhibitors during these hours, explains that everything is being done to guarantee “the maximum possible effectiveness of the event”, “with organizational activities, including extraordinary ones”. Obviously, he explains, constant checks will be carried out in the coming days, “with the concrete and priority objective of safeguarding and exploiting the investments” of the companies. Which, between the lines, seems to suggest that, if the conditions are not met, the necessary conclusions will be reached. “You can’t live from day to day”, writes Veronafiere, “but neither can you change plans at every agency flash. There is a term that helps everyone, and it is that of 3 April indicated by the Government: in this period of time we are all asked to work to contain the spread of the virus”. Hoping that, in the meantime, the overall picture will improve, in a matter that, by now, no longer concerns only China and Italy, but the whole planet.