Christian Schmidt, Consultant, VIF Wineconsult GmbH, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland
Mr. Schmidt visits ProWein for the 23rd time. He works as a consultant for retailers for their own brands or passes on his expertise to wine shops. He mentions: "In the meantime ProWein is the most important trade fair and is constantly developing." For him, it is especially a question of efficiency why the visit is worthwhile. He continues: "Once an initial visit to new business partners has been made, meetings can always take place at ProWein, where everyone is located for three days." One point could be optimized: "I have so many appointments, have a look at my list, an additional fair day would be better!"
Petra Oehmke, Buyer Spirits/Sparkling Wine and Chamgagne, Lekkerland Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Frechen, Germany
Ms. Oehmke is looking for suppliers of premium spirits in whiskey, rum or gin. She explains: "We are not focused on the standard products of the common food retailing." The product alone does not play the sole role: "Together with the suppliers, we develop creative service offerings, for example optimizing the logistics chain for maximally individualized ordering processes." Ms. Oehmke finds the development in the craft segment especially exciting, when small innovative spirits producers get the quality of the products and the marketing to the point and exploit strengths such as regionality to differentiate.
Juan Antonio Calleja Martinez, Wine Marker, Altovela Bodegas and M. Caremen Millán Alonso, Sales Manager, Altovela Bodegas Corral de Almaguer (Tuledo), Spain
Altovela was founded in 1965 and has an average grape processing of about 35 million kilograms. With 625 partners, they are one of the largest wine cooperatives in Spain. The two envoys visit ProWein for just one day and are busy,of course. They want to have enought time to get inspirations of the exhibitors. Ms. Alonso explaines: "We are already producing with the latest technology, but we do not stand still and constantly strive to improve. Especially details like the design of a bottle or gluing and designing labels from other manufacturers are of interest for us. We get a lot of input at ProWein on these topics."
Francesco Agostini and Marco Roccarino, Employees, Winelovers s.a.s., Italy
The two Italian guys have planned two days for their ProWein visit. Their company is specialized in import and export of wines from Austria and Germany. Due to the weather conditions in 2018, the output is relatively good and the offer, according to their statement, is better than in the past years. One topic is particularly important, as Mr. Agostini states: "We think that Riesling will continue to gain in importance and become more trendy. In Germany, the manufacturers will profit enormously from the development, because the price-performance ratio is very good.
Lester Tan, CEO, Likewin Marketing SDN BHD, Kluang Johor, Malaysia
The Malaysian company Likewin is specialized in the import and export of wine. Mr. Tan visits ProWein in Düsseldorf for the first time, but already knows the fair from the ProWein Asia: "We have heard that the german ProWein is supposed to be even better than the Asian offshoot and we are here to convince ourselves," he says. We also want to find new suppliers and learn more about the general conditions in Germany. When selecting suppliers, they pay attention to quality, because this is the top priority for their customers.
Christer Andre Olsen, Country Manager Germany, Arcus Norway AS, Hagen, Norway
Arcus is one of the largest producers of spirits in Scandinavia. The company's main product is Aquavit. "We're at ProWein for the first time this year, beacuse we are convinced by the concept of the "same but different"- area, in which we fit perfectly in. We are also looking for cooperation partners in the hotel and restaurant business and hope for constructive discussions." One of the main topics at their booth is Nordic Twist: Aquavit in Cocktails. The clear one as gin substitute and for whiskey is the ripened one to use. "With this mixture, it is only a matter of time before Aquavit comes to the bar menu in a variety of Nordic Twist drinks," says Mr. Olsen.
Ralf Herzberger, Executive Partner, Rolf Herzberger GmbH & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany
The company Herzberger was founded in 1963 and is based in Saarbrücken. Its core business is sale of exclusive wine, sparkling wine and spirits specialties. The cooperation with ProWein is also a tradition, because Herzberger was a founding member at that time. So he is an exhibitor of the first hour of ProWein. His Expectations for the fair are high again this year: "We want to introduce our new products, such as our revamped "Nicolas Napoléon" brand, and we have rejuvenated our image so that we can bring our quality to younger audiences. In addition, rosé wines play a dominant role for us regarding the future."
Every bottle gets its fixed place. Nothing is arbitrary, everything will be perfect.
No matter if big or small business: For every exhibitor ProWein is the place to be. The anticipitation is great.
The ProWein Forum conveys knowledge. Informative professional events will regularly be presented at two central locations. These events will be as versatile and appealing as the world of winemaking itself – including tastings and presentations by experts.