VINITALY JAPAN: ITALIAN WINE FASCINATES JAPANESE CONSUMERS

Debut for Vinitaly in Japan. Japan this year joined the international "stages" of the important wine event covering the main existing and emerging world markets (www.vinitaly.com). The official inauguration of Vinitaly Japan is scheduled today at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo, with seminars organised in collaboration with Buonitalia, as well as tastings dedicated to wines from Sicily and the Veneto, respectively organised by the Sicilian Regional Wine and Vine Institute and Uvive - the Union of Doc Veneto Wine Consortia.
Around sixty Italian companies are involved - with about forty taking part in the commercial workshop organised with 500 Japanese importers, distributors, journalists and opinion leaders. The "trip to Japan" follows a period of recovery for Italian exports to this country. "In the first 8 months this year," said Camillo Cametti, VeronaFiere Director in charge of internationalisation, " Italian wine exports to Japan came to almost 62.4 million Euro, against 56.4 in the same period last year. This is equal to almost 18.8 million litres, compared to 16.7 in January-August 2005".
"In organising Vinitaly Japan, we exploited the experience that VeronaFiere has already gained over many years of operations in the Far East, Russia and the USA to become an integrated promotion system operating 365 a year to serve all companies seeking internationalisation," said Giovanni Mantovani, Director General of VeronaFiere. "This mission in Japan, among other things," Mantovani concluded, "anticipates the 8th edition of Vinitaly China, scheduled in Shanghai next 23-25 November".
In Japan, Italian wines enjoy high positioning and the current increase in consumption must be sustained through wine culture events such as those organised within the scope of Vinitaly Japan that promote the best Italian wines and their history - features that perfectly match Japan's millennial culture. The Japanese, among other things, are well-informed consumers and like to know as much as possible about products.
Naohisa Muto, President of Clio International, a company importing Italian wines by now for 12 years, is convinced of this. "We opted for Italian wines," said Muto, "because they are the best in terms of characteristics, quality level, cost, traditions and the nature of the people who make and promote them".
The Japanese," said Muto, "prefer full-bodied, fruity and sapid wines with a hint of barrique. They generally enjoy wines in restaurants and hotels, that are still the ideal outlets for Italian products, while supermarkets may attract new consumers to different types wine than those currently available".
Commercial prospects are very interesting, since in Japan - which does not boast its own wine-making traditions - more than two thirds of the population over-18 drinks wine. Average annual consumption is currently only 2 litres per capita, although the Japanese who drink wine customarily have consumption levels similar to those in Europe.