Prowein 2025 seemed to be busy with all the 11 halls occupied by 4200 wine exhibitors and a Hall for Spirits buzzing. It seemed that a few areas were not fully occupied this time though there were some areas where exhibitors complained that they had to make do with less space as they could not be allotted the space desired in a particular hall. Undoubtedly, the  4200 exhibitors, 1000 less than previous years, which were accommodated in 6 halls earlier, made it look like a highly populated trade show.

Spain and ‘Europe’ were surprisingly full and busy though Italy seemed busier than ever even though it looked smaller. Germany and Austria seemed to be doing well though France was a big disappointment with many exhibitors either staying away or cutting back the area of display. Champagne Lounge was a dwarfed version of its earlier Avatars. If one were to believe the French exhibitors, the country had decided to support Wine Paris, though there was a truncated presence here.

Wine Paris this year was reportedly quite relaxed even though very busy, whereas ProWein seemed to be a bit constrained due to imminent higher taxes indicated by President Trump to be imposed on imports from most countries and his daily new and disturbing statements on tariffs. The US is a big export market for most exhibiting countries-especially the big 3 from Europe-Italy, France and Spain and that has been a cause for worry for the global wine industry.

Also Read : ProWein2025: Meininger Wine Conference Fleshy, Precise and Topical

My saree whiter than yours

There has been an increasing debate that Wine Paris was slowly catching up with Prowein and this year the murmur increased to rumble with more discussions and debates. There were two sides -each claiming that one or the other show was better or bigger although Prowein has been maintaining an upper hand earlier.

It helped many to decide in favour of Wine Paris because of the vibrating city of Paris as the venue getting increasing attention. Quite a few exhibitors and visitors told Arora that they were very happy being in Paris and loved to bring their families with whom they could even spend a mini vacation after the Show. Prowein is all business and you rush back the day the Show is over-even during the middle of the last day as there were less number of serious buyers.

The location and infrastructure had another advantage for the exhibitors and visitors alike. The infrastructure at Dusseldorf has been under the pressure of a breakdown over the years. Paris has an excellent infrastructure and wide spread network of seamless transportation. Remember the days of Vinexpo in Bordeaux when you were forced to stay even more than 40-50 kms away due to shortage of accommodation?! That disadvantage mars Dusseldorf but not Paris which is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city.

The fact that Wine Paris is held a month earlier, is also a factor as many exhibitors cannot afford to take part in both Shows and attend as a convenient or affordab;e choice.

If one looks closely at both shows, it appears that Wine Paris brought extra energy and optimism. The halls were buzzing. Most producers reportedly had enjoyed back-to-back meetings. Many exhibitors who attended both the shows felt that exhibitors in Prowein appreciated the somber pace and better buyer engagement in Paris which had a frenzy-like atmosphere.

Also Read : ProWein 2025: Signal for Innovation and Preparedness for Wine and Spirits Sector

ProWein point of view

It is not that ProWein is not aware of the increasing competition and its top position being challenged. Peter Schmitz, Director of ProWein reportedly said, “Yes, competition is competition, but from my point of view, it doesn’t make sense to keep dwelling on the competition between Paris and ProWein .I think we need to focus on our strengths. What we offer is a truly international narrative. We welcome exhibitors from 65 countries and visitors from 130 countries, maintaining a healthy balance between the two.”

At its peak, the fair attracted over 6500 exhibitors. According to Schmitz, the ideal number of exhibitors is between 4,200 and 4,500, to retain the scale without sacrificing quality connections.

“Wine Paris was so crowded, and people don’t want to stay in the line and wait, but this time there’s more time to chat and talk, so it’s great,” said the European Manager of an American producer.  For him it was still a very good fair. More importers and distributors came from Germany and the quality of clients was better.

Also Read : Prowein 2025: Fair Match an innovative matchmaking tool Debut

International Buyers Invited

One of the steps taken by Prowein has been to focus on the serious buyers from overseas. This year about 50 buyers from Asia were hosted with full hospitality, including three from India- Aiyappa Appaiah, Business Head of Aspri, Vinodh Shankar, General Manager of Sonarys and Vishal Kadakia, Founder owner of Wine Park were guests of Messe Dusseldorf, organisers of the Show.

Vishal Kadakia attended both the Shows Vinexpo in February and Prowein in March. Arora  had run into Arun Kumar, Director of Aspri and Vishal at Pavilion no. 12, an interesting pavilion that housed New World countries like Chile, South Africa; Argentina, Australia and of course India with Grover Vineyards holding the torch for India.

Vishal usually tries to attend both the Shows. He says he focuses on French wines and about 20-30% of his intended visits are focused on Wine Paris. For Portugal, Spain, Germany and Austria he focuses on Prowein. Every alternate year he visits Vinitaly which is like a dive into the big Italian treasure. For Italian wines he also visits Wine Paris but all his research on Italian wines is in Vinitaly though he feels today both Wine Paris and Vinitaly are equally important for Wine Park.

His premier South Africa supplier in Franschhoek, Boekenhoutskloof Winery, a producer of the iconic red Shiraz blend for India, exhibits at both the Shows as an exhibitor because he feels both are equally important and he gets almost equal number of existing buyers and potential customers at these Shows.

Vishal says that one really has two and a half productive days at each Show. One needs a minimum of 5-6 days to do justice and meet existing and potentially new vendors and so he divides his time between the two Shows.

Vishal was also very appreciative of Fairmatch, the new tool developed by Messe Dusseldorf this year to fix meetings between the buyers and the exhibitors. ‘Fairmatch really improved my efficiency. Normally we have to go through the whole lists and fix my meetings with existing and potential vendors but this time, I simply filled in my preferences and Prowein did the rest, quite methodically, thus improving my efficiency.’

Vishal also told delWine, ‘I must add that Prowein did not push us in any way after a brief introductory meeting and just felicitated our visits. We were required to hold a total of at least 10 meetings during the Show. I had 8 on the very first day. Really good organization, that! It was nice and efficient that there was a separate hall built for sponsored International Buyers with excellent facilities especially for our meals and the infrastructure to hold meetings with producers if we decided.’ As a long term measure, there will be even more effective measures to make it focus on the buyers.

Another point of interest for international buyers and other invitees is the proximity to the Show. With a guaranteed stay at a boat Hotel on the nearby River Rhine, barely 5 minutes’ walk from the Show entrance is most convenient. There is no reason why they cannot encourage other boat hotels to anchor during the Show and make them available to the exhibitors at reasonable prices, saving them a lot of time and money. The normal hotels increase their prices by over 3 times during the Show and event then   are completely sold out. A serious visitor to all the 3 shows, he attended Vinitaly last year and went into great depths. So he does not plan to visit the Show being held on 6-9 April in Verona this year.

Subhash Arora