Italian wine and the East, the market challenge is still open: started “Vinitaly China Roadshow”

It is certainly not the best historical moment in the relationship that links wine and China. A market in which, until a few years ago, many believed with forecasts of “boom” and ad hoc strategies, and therefore investments, for its conquest. But the slowdown has been evident, as the numbers show: those of the Oemv, the Spanish Wine Market Observatory, say that China, populated by more than 1.4 billion people, has reduced wine imports by 26% in volume and 15.2% in value in 2023, the equivalent of 249 million liters and 8.2 billion yuan (just over 1 billion euros, ed.). These figures are quite different from the record figures of 2017 with 751 million liters and 18.85 billion yuan, with the Dragon country establishing itself as the fastest growing market in the world. In 2023 Italy was China’s third largest wine supplier, behind France and China, with 831 million (-9.2%) and in volume it was the fourth largest country with 17.9 million (-31.5%), with the quantity accompanied by a minus sign, just like the “top” countries. As far as exports are concerned, the latest Istat data analyzed by WineNews, covering the first five months of 2024, see China’s wine imports falling again (36.7 million, -6.1%) over the same period a year ago. Some positive signs, however, are there in this 2024: as we also read from the Oemv data, China imported 3.6% more wine in the first quarter of 2024, amounting to almost 60 million liters. Sure, there is a gulf from the more than 200 million liters in 2018, but in the last fifteen quarterly surveys only in 2010 (56 million liters) and 2023 (60 million liters) had lower numbers been found.
Yet many remain convinced that investing in China is still important; we are talking about an immense market that cannot but represent a primary objective for a country like Italy where exports are a vital asset. Investing again in training, first and foremost in Italian wine culture and in major events such as trade fairs, is a solution that can pay off. And in Shanghai, edition No. 7 of “Vinitaly China Roadshow”, Veronafiere’s annual Chinese wine tour dedicated to the communication, popularization and promotion of the made-in-Italy wine product in the most strategic cities in demand, kicked off. Present yesterday at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, together with Veronafiere vice-president Matteo Gelmetti and Veronafiere Greater China general manager Simone Incontro, were Tiziana D’Angelo, Consul General at the Consulate of Italy in Shanghai, Vinicio Eminenti, board member Cicc-China International Capital Corporation, Mauro Maggioni, Cicc vice-president, Giuliano Martini, deputy commissioner for Trade at the Ice Shanghai office, and Alessandra Palumbo, Assistant Consul at the Consulate of Italy in Shanghai. After kicking off in the economic metropolis (W Hotel), the Roadshow will this year touch on Xi’an (tomorrow, W Hotel), capital of Shaanxi and an important center in Northwest China, and Guangzhou (September 6, Rosewood Hotel), one of the key cities in the Greater Bay Area.
Organized in cooperation with Ice Agenzia and the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the diplomatic system and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China, “Vinitaly China Roadshow” 2024 counts on the participation of more than 50 Italian wineries from “OperaWine”, Vinitaly’s preview tasting with the 131 producers selected by the US magazine “Wine Spectator,” and the main Italian wine groups, for more than 500 labels in the walk around tastings. Also present were major importers such as Sinodrink, Interprocom, Pietra Rossa, Zefiro, Sarment, Uita, ItalyFun and VM Fine Wines. Teaming up with Vinitaly on the food side is the Consorzio di Tutela del Grana Padano, present in all three cities with events in the main restaurants and with an unprecedented masterclass dedicated to pairings with tricolor wine. In addition, at the last stop, in Guangzhou, Veronafiere also presents its renewed Sol brand with the Sol International Evo Oil Show tasting area dedicated to evo oil, where tasting guides and masterclasses of the winning oils of the Sol d’oro International Competition No. 22 will be held, led by panel head Marino Giorgetti, supported by the Chinese Sol d’Oro juror Naxie. Mixology completes the offer, with the setting up in Xi’an of a pop-up cocktail bar dedicated to classic Italian proposals, under the direction of the three most important mixing venues in the Chinese metropolis.
Space will also be made for wine lovers in the three Chinese cities who, on the same days, will be able to take part in “Italian Wine Week”, a program of events in more than 80 trendy venues conceived and curated by Veronafiere through its Shanghai operations office and its Wine to Asia team in Shenzhen. This year, for the first time, there will also be wine maps, real food and wine guides in the cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou. This initiative will be taken up for the May 2025 “Greater Bay Area Wine Week” at the No. 3 edition of “Wine to Asia”.
“The Vinitaly Roadshow in China confirms itself as the only traveling event dedicated to Italian wine in the country of the Dragon”, explained Matteo Gelmetti, vice-president of Veronafiere, “a winning format that consolidates our almost 30-year presidium on this key but complex market, also through our Veronafiere Asia office in Shanghai, opened in 2018. With this in mind, the development in Asia of the Vinitaly brand represents one of the growth assets on which the exhibition group’s “One 2024-2026” strategic plan is focused, with investments dedicated both to the positioning of Italian wine in China - last year the Roadshow registered more than 1,900 Chinese demand operators - and to the incoming of profiled buyers to the Verona event: 1,255 in the last edition, an increase of more than 4 %”.
After the “Vinitaly China Roadshow”, Vinitaly’s promotion and internationalization program will continue in Japan, together with Agenzia Ice, for the 2024 Wine Exchange scheduled in Osaka and Tokyo (October 7 and 9), and then fly to Chicago for Vinitaly USA on October 20 and 21. In 2025, “Wine to Asia” No. 3 is already set, on May 9-11 in Shenzhen, China.