The Singapore extension of the highly regarded Dusseldorf based ProWein exhibition launched last week in conjunction with Food & Hotel Asia 2016, delivering large visitor numbers from trade delegations from 71 countries. Ashley Pini attended the conference, training sessions and the trade exhibition reporting for drinks trade.

It’s day three of the ProWine Asia 2016 and the 6,000th visitor has passed through the gates. The partner exhibition, Food & Hotel, is targeting that number ten-fold. The exhibition is vast yet full, and there’s business being done. Exhibitors have been on station from well before opening each day (something not always followed at other exhibitions) and the visitors started streaming in right on the bell. By the end of the event 9,000 are projected to have flowed through the ProWine Asia doors.

ProWine Asia is the smaller cousin to the main event – Food & Hotel Asia, exhibitors from as far afield as Algeria and Morocco comprising a healthy representation from 121 companies exhibiting in the ProWine Asia segment of the exhibition. Australia’s representation belies the position as number one on the wine charts here in Singapore, but much of the significance of being at this event is more to do with the broader region – and that’s a work still very much in progress.

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ProWine Asia has set the stage for international producers to make their foray into the increasingly affluent South-east Asian market and was said to be the largest trade fair of its kind in the region. With Vinexpo in Hong Kong next month anyone making this claim will be relying on visitation numbers rather than hall space as ProWine accounted for two halls here in Singapore whereas Vinexpo will take the entire Hong Kong Exhibition Centre. That being said ProWine features a wide array of international wine and spirits, plus an extensive scope of solutions and concepts tailored for the region’s diverse consumer markets.

The overall mood amongst the exhibitors was one of positivity, real business being done with orders taken and distributors found. Considering the searing temperatures and high humidity levels outside, happy (and tired) exhibitors is a good sign for the quality of the show.

With one and a half days to go it's apparent that the visitor numbers are going to be reached and if business continues to be written I would expect ProWine Asia to also be a hit in 2018.

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