- Continued growth in terms of visitors, exhibitors and leased space
- Most important platform for the wine industry in Mainland China
- Varied supporting program
On November 16, the 5th edition of ProWine China concluded successfully in Shanghai, receiving positive feedback from participants while setting new standards as the most international wines and spirits trade fair in Mainland China.
ProWine China continues to grow in number of visitors and international exhibitor participation, continuing to set new records this year. ProWine China 2017 attracted 14,219 trade visitors, an increase of 14.3% from the previous year. ProWine China’s continuous outreach and promotional campaigns across major cities have resulted in growing presence and accomplishment for the ProWine China platform.
This year, nearly 700 wines and spirits manufacturers, importers and distributors from 39 countries and regions organised into 16 country pavilions and 4 regional pavilions contributed to the global line-up of wines and spirits.
Commenting on this Marius Berlemann, Global Head Wine & Spirits and Director of ProWein, said: “ProWine China 2017 saw significant growth in the number of local and international wine producers and suppliers, reflecting the country’s continued evolution towards one of the largest markets for wines and spirits globally. The Chinese wine business is currently experiencing a shift in demand, away from only brands and pricing towards other elements including country and region of origin, grape variety and cultivation methods. Opportunity continues to flourish on China’s maturing wine market, achieving sustained growth year on year. At the same time, Chinese consumers are eager to discover wines from all parts of the world.”
ProWine China is jointly organised by Messe Düsseldorf and UBM Allworld. The fair runs concurrently with Food & Hotel China (FHC), China’s leading trade fair for imported food. “Over the three days Shanghai is transformed into an exhibition of unimaginable dimensions. We had visitors coming from all corners of China. Some even came from very distant provinces, such as Liaoning and Yunnan,” said Paul March, Managing Director at UBM Allworld, summing up.
This year’s event also saw increased participation by local wine producers, importers and distributors with 30% growth in the number of exhibitors compared to last year, thereby reflecting the upward trend on a flourishing Chinese wine market. An increasing number of local brands and winemakers are striving to achieve a strategic upgrade through ProWine China’s international platform. It is also worth noting that COFCO, one of the world’s top 500 leading companies, brought its flagship wine – Great Wall – to ProWine China for the first time while featuring an exclusive masterclass under the same name.
Overall, exhibitors and visitors were very satisfied with this year’s ProWine China:
“The three-day exhibition left a very good impression on me, I am quite satisfied with the national pavilion of each wine country. I found several American wines on the first day and paved the way for initial cooperation. It saved us a lot of time when choosing wine. This show is the highest quality wine fair I have ever attended domestically, we will definitely be back next year,” commented Yu Wang, General Manager of a wine importing company from Shaanxi province.
Michaela Stander, Marketing Manager, Wines of South Africa stated: “The size of the exhibition is growing and you can see many new brands with many new countries coming in. I see the biggest change in the quality of visitors – we all see not only highly professional visitors, but that visitors know exactly what they are looking for. They are not just interested in price, but actually ask for specific varieties and styles. We can see that they are putting a lot of thought into the distribution plan and how to purchase.”
Extensive Offering of Knowledge throughout the Event
ProWine China continues to offer a top-notch supporting programme over the three-day trade show, focusing great attention on wine education. This year, the provocative and well-attended ‘Wine Master Series’ brought four ‘Wine Masters’ including Debra Meiburg MW, Fongyee Walker MW, Roderick Smith MW and Robert Goddes MW, to the event. At the same time, this edition’s onsite programme also featured an extensive line-up of masterclasses and tastings hosted by WSET. (Wine & Spirit Education Trust).
Jude Mullins, WSET’s International Development Director, stated: “One thing I noticed is the increased level of knowledge and understanding of wines and spirits among visitors. We launched the sake program in China last year and had a great response to the sake master class with lots of people excited to learn more. We try to allow our educators to choose the subject because they are at the forefront of what’s happening on the Chinese wine market. They know what’s trendy and what’s coming next. These aspects were reflected in our master classes this year.”
Wine Industry Forum @ PWC 2017
The Industry Forum at ProWine China 2017 continued to provide ample industry insights under the theme of “Understanding Chinese Wine Consumers.”, featuring wine expert Li Demei who is one of the “World’s Top 10 Most Influential Wine Consultants”.
Asked for his impressions of this year’s programme, Li Demei stated: “The maturing Chinese wine market needs professional wine education and training; only by doing this will consumers gain clear direction: knowing what they do and do not like. This is why education is so important. This year’s atmosphere has been very lively, especially in terms of participation at the various masterclasses and forums.” Six other speakers participated, including Professor Larry Lockshin from the University of South Australia; Zeng Lishi, a researcher from Australia’s Ehrenberg-Bass Institute and Germany’s Geisenheim University; Li Shiyi, Deputy General Manager at COFCO; Dr. Sun Jian, Director of Changyu Group and Deputy General Manager at Changyu Limited; Xu Wei, Co-founder of Aroma Republic; and Dr. Li Ruyi from the Wine Institute of Ningxia University. Besides this, Wine 100 also presented a distributor forum on the topic of “Retail 3.0 Remodelling Chinese Wine Market” during the trade fair.
Meet the ProWein Family
ProWein World offers a global network of allied trade shows. The next ProWein will be held in Düsseldorf in Germany from 18-20 March 2018. ProWine Asia goes to Singapore on 24-27 April 2018 and then to Hong Kong on 7-10 May 2019. ProWine China returns to Shanghai’s New International Expo Center on 13-15 November 2018.
Information on ProWein World’s trade fair family can be found at
Information on ProWine Asia: www.prowineasia.com
Information on ProWine China: www.prowinechina.com
