Recovery in the Wine Sector Gets Going in Verona

The 44th edition of the International Wine and Spirits Exhibition was officially inaugurated by the Minister for Agricultural Policies and Governor of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia.

4,200 exhibitors over a net area of more than 92 thousand square meters and expected attendance by 150 thousand visitors from more than 100 countries: in this context, the ‘five days of wine’ looks to the international market in the mark of trust.

In fact, “as never before, this year Vinitaly ranks at the showcase of a keystone sector in Italian agriculture and also of the Italian economy,” said Ettore Riello, President of VeronaFiere, at the Inauguration Ceremony.

“After the annus horribilis for the world economy and changing market scenarios, Vinitaly proves that the wine system is solid. And Veronafere,” Riello concluded, “seeks to be at the side of companies in this particular moment dedicated to the recovery of the economic system.”

And precisely the impact of the crisis on Italian wine is the central theme of the first day of Vinitaly.

The survey commissioned by VeronaFiere (360 small, medium and large cellars representative of the Italian production fabric) that will be presented this afternoon by Axiter-Confocommercio and Unicab suggests that despite the general pessimism in recent months, Italian companies have demonstrated a good capacity to hold steady: in short, 36.3 percent of interviewees achieved an increase in turnover in 2009, while 30.8 percent remained stable.