IS THE RECESSION IN THE U.S. AND ASIA BAD NEWS FOR ITALIAN WINE? “THE CRISIS MORTIFIES SOME ASPECTS BUT ALSO CREATES AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EXPANSION. WINE IS A VIRTUOUS EXAMPLE”, ACCORDING TO ICE PRESIDENT, UMBERTO VATTANI

Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE) president, Umberto Vattani, pointed out the pros and cons of the current world market situation in a recent interview with WineNews.tv.
Could the risk of economic recession that is looming over strategic markets for Italian wine, like those of the U.S. and Asia, have repercussions on the Italian wine sector?
“The crisis has two aspects: on the one hand it hits and mortifies certain expectations, while on the other hand, it allows for great business.
“Of course, under certain sales profiles of Italian products, above all in the mid-level range, there could be a fall in the economic availability of consumers but, at the same time, there are many opportunities for favorable prices for land and real estate where one can sell or increase production, and some structural costs that must, in any case, be confronted in order to expand. The mission of ICE is that of keeping antennas tuned enough to take advantage of different moments. Together with Italian expo entities, in particular that of Verona, but also other like in Bologna, Bari, Parma, Rome, Milan, etc., we are always listening in order to seize opportunities”.
ICE, therefore, is always open to creating alliances with the largest Italian expo centers?
“It’s natural that it’s like this. We are abroad all year, though missions, no matter how much the desire is to prolong them, cannot last for more than a week. There is the unification, on the part of ICE, of market knowledge, the capability to pick out the right consultants and partners who are interested in Italy, with the capacity of expo entities to find everything else. We are uniting forces to see how much we can exploit the markets where agricultural activity has become strong again.
Wine is, therefore, a virtuous example of this alliance, like that with VeronaFiere?
Yes, because, for example, we are capable of even giving advice to producers, who, in promoting wine, also facilitate memorization. How can we think that ‘Brunello di Montalcino’ translated into Chinese will be remembered? Well, we have studied methods that, with much use of ideograms, remind consumers of the quality of the wine, as well as the color and the land from which it comes.
It is a subtle and difficult game that, however, we are putting to use because we believe that in these markets, i.e. China, Japan and Korea, there is a lot of important potential for our wines, which are often preferred over those of our competitors”.