Two local wineries were recently showcased in Germany at elite international trade fair ProWein Düsseldorf 2023.
Wrattonbully’s Eight at the Gate Wines and Coonawarra’s Rymill Estate were amongst 80 South Australian wine brands represented at the major event.
ProWein Düsseldorf boasts the largest line-up of wine and spirit producers across the world, featuring 6000 exhibitors from 61 countries, and is the only international trade fair comprising the entire world market.
Fourteen South Australian wine brands attended via the government’s Wine Export and Recovery Expansion Program, which aims to facilitate expansion into new markets and increase global South Australian wine sales.
The trade fair was an opportunity for wine brands to present their wines to new export markets and initiate meetings with potential overseas trade markets.
Eight at the Gate Wines co-owner Jane Richards said although vintage was a busy time to travel to Germany, she deemed it important due to the people she would meet from other countries.
“It exposed us to markets, new people that we had not had contact with before,” Ms Richards said.
“While I was there, I was able to meet with our potential Indian importer and we have a verbal agreement to move forward which is great, as well as a UK and Europe company that brings in products to the whole of the UK and Europe, which, if these things move ahead, will be really good.
“We actually secured a New South Wales and Queensland distributor at the event as well.”
Germany is the 14th largest export market for South Australian wine and in year ending January 2023, South Australian wine exports to Germany were valued at $17.7m and represented 86% of the total value of Australian wine exports to the country.
Ms Richards said because it was expensive to send wine samples around the world, it was great to showcase their wines for tasting at the trade fair.
“Wine is a very tactile product, it is hard to purchase without actually tasting, so I certainly got exposure to people who I had not targeted, what you would consider ‘cold customers’ I suppose,” she said.
“But then the benefit of progressing those warm leads I do not think can be understated, it is a people business at the end of the day, and so the more times you get to be face-to-face with your potential customers, the better.
“You certainly get a different level of interaction when you are standing face-to-face with somebody, you get to know them a bit more personally.
“I think most people in sales know, existing customers who are getting that repeat purchase is the key to sustained growth.”
Additionally, Germany is the world’s largest, most mature no/low-alcohol market and an increased demand for low and non-alcoholic beverages has been a trending global movement in recent years.
Non-alcoholic wine is expected to surge at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% from 2023 to 2033.
The global wine market for non-alcoholic wine is currently valued at US$2b and is estimated to reach a market share of US$5.2b by 2033.
