Over 4 thousand exhibiting companies and a thousand top buyers from 68 different countries. These are the numbers of the 55th edition of Vinitaly, the international wine fair that Veronafiere will host from 2 to 5 April. The Italian wine supply chain presents itself at the most important Italian event in the sector with solid numbers: 31.3 billion euros in turnover, 530,000 companies, 870,000 employees and 7.9 billion euros in exports. A goal, the latter of exports, which for the first time makes wine the first item of sales of made in Italy agri-food in the world. As for consumption in Italy, according to the Uiv-Vinitaly Observatory and Prometeia there are 29.4 million wine buyers, equal to 55% of the population, and of these, 42% use it daily.
Among the 68 destination routes for Italian wine that will converge in Verona, in addition to the consolidated markets of the USA and Canada, Asian countries are gaining space led by China (from which 130 top buyers are arriving), Japan, South Korea but also from Hong Kong and Singapore. «It will be a Vinitaly of service and increasingly functional to the needs of companies – announces the president of Veronafiere Spa, Federico Bricolo – an evolution envisaged by the business plan with the aim of further enhancing the identity and centrality of the event, now recognized as brand capable of driving the promotion of Italian wine at an international level». For its part, Agenzia Ice will bring 400 foreign operators from 43 countries to Verona: «The USA, Germany and the United Kingdom are the three players that alone absorb over half of our wine exports – said the president of Agenzia Ice, Matteo Zoppas – there is no important restaurant abroad that does not have at least one Italian label on its menu».
At the same time, on the more than 100 thousand square meters of exhibition space between fixed pavilions and complete tensile structures, the other two professional exhibitions, Enolitech and Sol&Agrifood, will also take place in Verona, bringing the total exhibition in the district to more than 4,400 companies.