Federvini:“there are no conditions for an international level event like Vinitaly”

“There are no conditions to ensure exhibitors and participants an international level event in the wake of Vinitaly’s history. The professionalism and authority of VeronaFiere must be channeled towards initiatives to relaunch the sector”. These were the words of Piero Mastroberardino, president of the Federvini Wines Group and the Istituto del Vino Italiano di Qualità - Grandi Marchi, who, as anticipated yesterday by WineNews, broke the deadlock and “at the end of a wide-ranging consultation, taking into account the importance that the Vinitaly 2020 appointment represents for companies and the national wine sector, invited VeronaFiere to continue reflection to rethink the event in a different way, compatible with the changed global scenario”.
This invitation comes after Fivi (Federazione Italiana Vignaioli Indipendenti - Italian Federation of Independent Winemakers) had also asked Vinitaly to skip 2020 and already think 2021, and, despite the reassurances of VeronaFiere, which wrote to exhibitors explaining that everything is being done to guarantee “the maximum possible effectiveness of the event”, “with organizational activities, including extraordinary ones”, and that constant checks will be carried out in the coming days, “with the concrete and priority objective of safeguarding and exploiting the investments” of companies.
In any case, Federvini points out, “the scenarios that the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus is putting in front of everyone’s eyes make a short-term solution very unlikely. International links, if before they were de facto zeroed out, are now even formally blocked. Catering, the channel of choice for our wines, is now also normatively inactive. The willingness of foreign operators to come to Italy, even for months to come, is unlikely to be quickly reacquired. In any case, there will be an after-emergency, and then it will be necessary for everyone to be ready”.
“Once the isolation linked to the contagion has been overcome, it will be necessary to start again with institutional events, which will draw attention to the relaunch of the sector, to overcome the strong criticalities in progress. I am convinced - continues Piero Mastroberardino - that with VeronaFiere we will be able to gather the efforts that the Government and Parliament are making in these hours to support the Made in Italy supply chains”.
According to Federvini, a strategy must be put in place that involves the institutional parties in the immediate future, and that involves the operators again, once sustainable commercial and competitive conditions have been re-established.
An important position that comes from what is considered the “Confindustria del vino”, and which brings together “a wide representation of producers of wines, liqueurs, spirits and vinegars and of Aceto Balsamico di Modena Igp”, a federation founded in 1917, for “the protection of the interests and assistance of the category in all institutional, national, EU and international offices”.