Following the success of the first ProWein Business Report in 2017, Hochschule Geisenheim University was commissioned by the Düsseldorf Trade Fair Center to produce it a second time. Both Düsseldorf Trade Fair Center and Hochschule Geisenheim University enjoy outstanding international reputations and are, according to the ProWein management team, both national champions in their fields.
The report is based on two online questionnaires in five languages which collected assessments by international exhibitors and visitors to ProWein. The project will be carried out jointly by Prof. Simone Loose, Evelyn Pabst, M. Sc. and Uwe Rohrmüller from the Department of Wine and Beverage Business at Hochschule Geisenheim University.
The investigation again met with a very high level of interest from the industry, with the number of participants increasing by 60% (from 1,487 to 2,364) since the first survey in 2017, making the the ProWein Business Report the world's most comprehensive trend barometer for the international wine sector.
29 international journalists were invited to the world premiere of the 2018 ProWein Business Report with Prof. Dr. Simone Loose, which took place at the ProWein Media Summit in Shanghai, the day before ProWine China, on November 12, 2018, the 25th anniversary of ProWein Düsseldorf. Wine trade press representatives from 23 countries were impressed by the comprehensive international market report, repeatedly confirming its assessments of their domestic markets.
The results of the ProWein Business Report were mentioned in a large number of international business and wine press articles, further publicizing Hochschule Geisenheim University internationally. Renowned journals such as The Drinks Business, Harpers, Handelsblatt, the Dutch industry journal Wijnplein, the Italian Wine Journal, La Revue vinicole internationale, Weinwirtschaft, deutsche Getränkewirtschaft, Wein+Markt as well as industry information services Just-Drinks, Spirited Singapore, WineNews, Wines of Portugal, Wein-Inside, Il denaro.it, Sardinia Post, the Portuguese Grandes Escolhas and the Chinese WinesInfo and Wine21.com reported on the Hochschule Geisenheim University-produced report.
ProWine China, with its supporting program, incuding visits to typical local wine shops, fashionable wine bars and wine dealers was a unique experience for the two Geisenheimers, Prof. Loose and Ms. Pabst, as was Shanghai, the buzzing metropolis where 25 million inhabitants, the same as the populations of North Rhine Westphalia and Hesse together, live and work in one city. During many discussions with local industry experts, it became clear how much potential the huge Chinese wine market still has, being currently limited to a few million consumers from the upper and middle classes and strongly dependent on the economic prosperity of the state. On the other hand, the two scientists were made aware of the extent to which digitalization has already progressed both in everyday life and in Chinese purchasing behavior, and of how much catching up Germany still has to do.
Hochschule Geisenheim University's team is looking forward to further cooperation with ProWein, and the next survey for the ProWein Business Report 2019 will take place in the second quarter.
The complete report, with detailed summaries in five languages, is available online
Prof. Dr. Simone Loose und Evelyn Pabst, M. Sc.
