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More than one hundred Asian buyers will be coming in to FENAVIN, mainly from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan

Nemesio de Lara stresses the "important increase in European wine imports in Asia". These buyers will also be participating in the session that will be organized by the Castilla-La Mancha IPEX, "China, dos mercados para el vino embotellado: recomendaciones a las bodegas españolas" (China, Two Markets for Bottled Wine: Recommendations for Spanish Wineries)

About one hundred Asian buyers, mainly from China, will be coming in to Ciudad Real, to the National Trade Fair on Wine, FENAVIN 2011, which is to take place from May 10th to the 12th. They buyers are being brought in by the Institute for Foreign Promotion of Castilla-La Mancha (IPEX), in collaboration with the Castilla-La Mancha Tierra de Viñedos Foundation and the Agricultural Council of Castilla-La Mancha. At the trade fair the buyers will be participating in the technical session "China, Two Markets for Bottled Wine: Recommendations for Spanish Wineries", which will take place on May 11th. Nemesio de Lara, President of FENAVIN, underlined the important increase in imports of European wine to Asia and the great opportunity that the Trade Fair provides in this respect".

These more than one hundred Asian buyers will be mainly coming in from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, emerging countries in which consumption is on the increase and where there is greater demand for western products, with wine representing one of the higher ranking products due to the fact that they consider it a healthy product.

The main lecturer of the FENAVIN session will be the expert Dan Siebers, Sommelier and Director of "Summergate Wines" in Northern China, who will be presenting a summary of the situation and China's potential in all that related with the wine sector and its commercialization. He will be accompanied by the Director of the Beijing Office, Ignacio Mezquita; along with Javier Vega, Director of the IPEX and Marisa Flores, Director of the Foreign Network and Asia Area of the IPEX.

Nemesio de Lara: Increase of Wine Imports in China is Exponential

As explained by Nemesio de Lara, President of Fenavin, "the increase in the purchase of wine and wine imports in China has been exponential, which comes to prove that consumption and the GDP continue to grow in this emerging country with a population of more than 1.3 billion that will be clearly represented at our Trade Fair, which in turn means a great business opportunity for our wineries and cooperatives.

On his part, Ángel Amador, Vice President of FENAVIN, specifies that "the session is aimed at Spanish impresarios and impresarios from Castilla-La Mancha, who will have the chance to come into contact with the buyers of the markets of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as a total of one hundred buyers are coming in, although we have had to limit and select from among the best of them".

On his part, Javier Vega, Director of the Castilla-La Mancha IPEX, underlined that "wine sales to China in the year 2010 underwent a significant increase, exporting, in that pertaining to business volume, more wine from Castilla-La Mancha to China than we do to the United States, likewise seeing an important increase in the sale of Bordeaux wine to the Asian giant".

Very Representative Companies

From among the companies coming in, there are some as representative as ASC Fine Wines, COFCO, Maxford Wines or the TEMPUS Group, adds the Director of the Castilla-La Mancha IPEX, who also reminds us that "the Chinese market continues to be one of the most highly valued and wine consumption for the Chinese culture is a sign of health", comments, Javier Vega. He also stresses that "twenty percent of total wine consumed in China is imported, which means that Spain has a lot to say in the matter".

More than 600 million Chinese are leaving poverty behind and turning into potential consumers

Marisa Flores, Director of the IPEX in Hong Kong, mentions that "more than 600 million Chinese have been leaving poverty behind in the last thirty years and, as their income level rises, they have turned into very attractive potential consumers".

There is no doubt that currently the Chinese market is one of the most highly valued, something that was made more than manifest in past editions of FENAVIN. Its peculiar, yet constant approach to a certain type of consumer society and the impressive size of its population, more than 1.3 billion, turns it into a preferential destination for all types of investments.

A highly detailed presentation and a realistic analysis of this market will be made during the session, hence providing the impresario visiting the trade fair, who is also a potential exporter of wines, relevant information on the business opportunities that exist in the Asian market and on commercial uses and customs pertaining to a culture that is very different from our own.

The favorite wine varieties in this market are Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah and Pinot Noir in the case of red wines; and Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc in white wines.

In as far as commercialization is concerned, it is certainly not easy because there are literally immense companies in China, which commercialize sales of up to 30 million liters, hoisting tremendous barriers against competition by way of exclusivity contracts. "This is a complex market, in which one has to be very persevering, patient and always in search of the adequate partner", Javier Vega mentions, in turn encouraging Spanish and Castellano-Manchego companies to register their brands in China: "it is not an expensive process and the importance that it can have in the future is not normally taken into account".

Vega also points out that importers must adapt to the uses and tastes of the Chinese consumer, duly taking this into account when designing the labels because the colors that are attractive in this market are gold, red, etc. "We must think from the point of view of the Asian consumer and not only from the perspective of the western consumer".

It must be recalled that in the year 2011 Pago de Vallegarcía, a Castellano-Manchego Winery, closed an agreement that saw the light at FENAVIN 2009, with the most important wine company in China, resulting in a Ciudad Real winery exporting wines for a value close to one million dollars.

Around 2700 buyers from fifty-four countries

Collaboration between the Chamber of Commerce and the IPEX and these in turn with FENAVIN's organization, will allow us to count with a great number of international buyers, by far exceeding the figure of the past edition. Coordination between these institutions is necessary in order to develop diverse contacts with agents and companies that are specialized in the sector and with Spain's commercial offices abroad, hence going in search of potential clients for the exhibitors that will be present at FENAVIN, the same over the basis of four themes:

1. Traditional markets for Spanish exports, such as Germany and the United Kingdom.
2. New potential markets, such as Rumania or the Ukraine.
3. Great emerging markets, such as China, Brazil, Canada or India
4. Exotic markets such as Kazakhstan, Oman or the United Arab Emirates.

Thus, on the upcoming month of May more than 700 distributors and importers from fifty-four countries will be working at the Ciudad Real Trade Fair Pavilion: Germany, Angola, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, South Korea, Denmark, Ecuador, United States, El Salvador, United Arab Emirates, Slovak Republic, Estonia, Philippines, Finland, France, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Oman, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Rumania, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam.

To be added to this figure are the international buyers that are coming in on their own, estimated in about 2000 in accordance to the rate of accreditations that we are seeing for this edition.