TOPICS AT THE 57TH EDITION: PROMOTION, INTERNATIONALIZATION AND CHANGE
BRICOLO (PRESIDENT, VERONAFIERE): EVEN STRONGER PROMOTION IN COLLABORATION WITH INSTITUTIONS TO SUPPORT SECTOR COMPETITIVENESS AGAINST A COMPLEX SCENARIO
REBUGHINI (GENERAL MANAGER, VERONAFIERE): 1200 TOP BUYERS CONFIRMED FROM 71 COUNTRIES SELECTED BY VERONAFIERE AND ICE TRADE AGENCY: A RESULT NOT TO BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED. NEW CONTENT AND FORMATS LAUNCHED: WELCOME TO VINITALY TOURISM. SPACE FOR ALCOHOL-FREE AND RAW WINE. AMPHORA REVOLUTION JOINS THE SHOW PROGRAMME.
DANESE (CEO, VERONAFIERE): VINITALY'S NEW APPROACH IS NOW STRUCTURAL, PERMANENT AND MARKS OUT VERONAFIERE'S FUTURE COMMITMENT
Vinitaly looks beyond sales barriers and the 57th edition at Veronafiere 6-9 April comes forward with approximately 4000 companies and a fully booked exhibition area, confirming its status as the centre of gravity and pulse of Italian wine. Professionals from Italy and 140 countries are expected to crowd the event's 18 show halls (permanent and tensile structures). In particular, the aim is to confirm attendance by 30,000 international buyers, including the United States, for the largest 'business agenda' for Made in Italy wine. This is the snapshot of the only international exhibition dedicated to Italian wine that emerged today in Rome during the Presentation Press Conference at Palazzo Montemartini.
The objectives characterising all the initiatives launched this year by Veronafiere see promotion and internationalisation consolidated, at the same time as expanding programme content, with Vinitaly evolving from an observer to an incubator of trends.
The President of Veronafiere, Federico Bricolo, commented: “Over the last few years we have worked intensively with institutions - ministries, embassies, ICE Trade Agency and international chambers of commerce - to expand promotion supporting competitiveness in this sector. Today, Vinitaly is the natural meeting place for Italian wine on the main target markets. We intend to further strengthen this positioning by making all our expertise available to political entities and businesses to support them in response to the challenges arising from the current complex scenario while also marking out new destination routes.”
Internationalisation - always on a two-way basis direction from Verona to the world and vice versa - is still a priority of the event and the incoming plan developed by Veronafiere in collaboration with the ICE Trade Agency Vinitaly 2025. “1200 top buyers are accredited and hosted in Verona," added General Manager, Adolfo Rebughini. "A profiled selection of professionals from 71 countries (six more than last year) thereby improving on the record set in 2024. This outcome was far from being a foregone conclusion given current geo-political tensions." The largest delegations of super operators selected from non-EU areas are headed by the USA and Canada, followed by China, UK and Brazil, as well as India, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. Germany, Switzerland, Northern Europe and the Balkan area lead the way for Europe.
“The turning point that began ten years ago, with the distinct separation between business in the Exhibition Centre and wine lovers in the city was further strengthened in 2023. It is now permanent and further developments will have to be found in Veronafiere's future strategic plans," explained CEO Maurizio Danese. "Intensifying the international calendar in the main areas of demand for wine and optimisation of investments to amplify the Italian wine trade fair brand ecosystem are the guidelines ensuring that Vinitaly will become increasingly international and focused on the needs of companies.”
From markets to trends, Vinitaly is an incubator for trends which it has always intercepted, monitored and analysed in order to improve services and content for exhibitors and the sector as a whole
“This is the direction taken," said General Manager Adolfo Rebughini, "by the NoLo wine project that joins the event programme for the first time in terms of exhibition within the Mixology area as well as content. The programme includes two focus events: the first deals with market expectations and the second with 0.0 technologies. There will also be space for RAW Wine and the wines involved in the Amphora Revolution, which is now part of the 57th Vinitaly. Other new features include a specific venue for wine tourism. Vinitaly Tourism makes its debut with attendance by specialist national and international tour operators from the United States, Spain and Germany. This project, in the long run, may even also be included in the schedules of the international stages of the event in Asia, South and North America.”
The Press Conference presenting the 57th Vinitaly not only saw reports by Veronafiere's top management but also by Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty, Alessia Rotta, Councillor for Trade and Production Activities of Verona City Council, and Matteo Zoppas, President of ICE Trade Agency.
Following the report by the Head of the Uiv-Vinitaly Observatory on “Wine - focus on under-44 consumers today and tomorrow in Italy and the United States”, speakers also included Paolo Castelletti, Secretary General of the Italian Wine Union, Roberta Garibaldi, tourism expert and lecturer at the University of Bergamo, Micaela Pallini, President of Federvini, Massimo Tribaldi, Vice-President of Assoenologi, and Marzia Varvaglione, President of CEEV.