“THE CRISIS IS JUST A CRISIS AND WILL PASS”, SAYS ROBERT BEYNAT, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF VINEXPO. “A MUCH MORE SERIOUS FACT IS THAT MANY ‘ANTI-ALCOHOLEXTREMISTS’, AS I CALL THEM, KEEP BLAMING EVERYTHING ON WINE”

Contribution from Winenews.tv-Video: ” The crisis is only a crisis: it will pass. In the next two years things will start up again, says Robert Beynat, Chief Executive of Vinexpo.
“As far as consumption is concerned, it seems that the crisis has not had any effect on consumers. People continue to drink wine as they did before. They have just changed their purchasing criteria and demand more for the same price. They do not want to reduce their buying budget”.
Robert Beynat, Chief Executive of Vinexpo in Bordeaux expresses a more than positive outlook on the world of wine. “The crisis is just a crisis – he explained to WineNews again – and will pass. The Director of the IMF, Strauss-Khan, has said that no one can know what will happen until early 2010, but over the next two years, and I say this as a graduate in economics, things will start up again”.
So, what markets should we look more carefully at in order to be ready?
“The more developed countries, says Beynat, are unquestionably those where there are investments to be made: above all the United States. It is the first country in the world in consumption, the second largest importer, and is climbing in volume. The second country that obviously needs investments, although it does not produce wine, is the biggest importer in the world: Great Britain. The problem is that there is very strong competition between these two countries. Distribution, namely hypermarkets, supermarkets, wholesalers and so on are very powerful and need to be stabilized through investments. The third country is a continent, Asia. Here consumption at the moment is not very strong, but is growing fast. Competition is not too fierce because we need strong resources to be on the markets in Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul. These are the three countries I’d examine more carefully. And then, fortunately, there are also a few large markets that are developing, such as Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark). Canada is another country in full progress that we can control, but where there is strong competition. If I had products to sell, this is where I’d invest”.
“But there is another far more serious factor besides the crisis, said the director general of Vinexpo, what I call the ”anti-alcohol extremists“ who insist on blaming wine and alcohol in general on traffic accidents, on people who die falling down the stairs - everything is always the fault of alcohol. The industry needs to be organized so that States are not obliged to pass laws. If States pass specific laws then the issue becomes serious.
And what about Italy?
“Italian production is almost stable at the moment. The restructuring and improvement of Italian vineyards are almost completed, so the new vineyards will start producing and compensating for the replaced ones. There will not be an increase in production in Italy, nor in France. In Spain production is decreasing, but this is normal because they have not quite finished the renovation process. Italy is one of the three largest producers in the world and together with France and Spain, they represent more than 50% of world production. The constant challenge for the producer is always best quality and best prices”.
Export chapter.
“With regard to exports, for the first time in 2007, after 20-25 years, Italy has exported more than France in volume, but French export value is higher than in Italy - $10 billion to $6 billion. It is, simply, that French products sold for export are more expensive. Yet, in contrast, I believe that as the world market and production develop there will be even more opportunities for the Italians and the French.”
And what next? ”Investments. Buy vineyards in China with the Chinese, in India with Indians, like the Bordeaux producers do. There are vineyards that belong half to Chinese and half to Bordeaux producers. So I think there are many possibilities and an expanding market will help both the Italian and the French producers. On the contrary, the more these countries produce the more they will drink and the more they will import. And what will they import? First of all, French and Italian wines.”