NEWS
NEW BULK WINE EXHIBITION OPENED IN CHINA’S YANTAI CITY
By David Ma
31-5-2019
The first World Bulk Wine Exhibition (WBWE) China show opened yesterday in the northern port city of Yantai to tap the booming bulk wine market in China.
The new China show in May is said to suit the production schedule of producers in southern hemisphere while the original WBWE Amsterdam show in November will continue to serve producers in northern hemisphere.
Bulk wines are unbottled wines imported by local distributors or retailers to be bottled under their own labels which are mostly entry-level wines.
Yantai is China’s top bulk wine importing port with 80% of bulk wine shipments entered China through its port facilities.
China’s bulk wine market has been growing very fast. The country imported 31 million liters of bulk wines in 2000, which increased to 176 million liters in 2018.
“The organisers had been planning on bringing the event here for four years. This is a wine region, so the government of Yantai saw it as a chance to give the region the exposure it needs, so it’s a win-win situation,” explained Natalia Posadas-Dickson, WBWE conference programme director.
Posadas-Dickson added: “The potential, the size, the opportunities, the fact it’s a new market, that people want to learn, how could you resist being here?”
China currently sits in fifth place globally in terms of bulk imports, behind Germany (615 million liters), France (543 million liters), UK (500 million liters) and USA (251 million liters).
However, China tops the list as the world’s fastest growing bulk wine importer, followed by Hong Kong.
The first WBWE China show features 140 exhibitors from 20 different countries, a total of 208 wineries and cooperatives, with strong representation from territories including Australia, Argentina and Chile, along with South Africa, Italy and Moldova.
The main bulk suppliers to China are Chile, at 93.0 million liters (up 66% between 2018 and 2017), followed by Australia, at 45.9 million liters (up 22.8%). Spain came third at 8.7 million liters, and France fourth at 6.7 million liters.
Spain, followed by Australia, Italy and Chile, are the main bulk providers, while the fastest growing exporters are Argentina, USA and Hungary.
(the writer can be contacted at: DavidMa@thewinechronicle.com)
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