Greater Internationality: Visitors From 60 Countries

INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA 2013 closed its doors after having attracted around 30,000 visitors from 60 countries. Although there were 6,000 fewer visitors than in 2010, the length of this year's event has been reduced from five to four days. In spite of the drop in the number of visitors, the majority of the 570 exhibitors from 24 countries were very satisfied with their business results and new contacts at the international technology trade fair for wine, fruit, fruit juice and spirits. The proportion of foreign visitors from all over the world rose to 24 per cent (2010: 21 per cent). A large number of exhibitors praised the high expertise and willingness to invest of the visitors to their stands.

In the opinion of Dr. Rudolf Nickenig, General Secretary of the German Winegrowers' Association (DWV), the organiser of INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA and the 61st German Winegrowers' Congress, "the trade fair figures reflect the structural change in the winegrowing industry – over the last forty years the number of companies in Germany has practically halved although the total vine area has remained constant at 100,000 hectares. Following some small grape harvests in Europe in recent years, which have curbed investment opportunities, the reorganised EU support programmes are expected to provide a major boost. Further internationalisation of INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA is therefore a logical consequence.". According to Florence Menard, Export Director of the French agricultural machinery supplier Pellenc, "INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA 2013 totally confirmed its function as a first-class international trade fair and gateway to Eastern European markets; we were very satisfied with our results in Stuttgart."

More than 1,000 experts from all over the world took part in the individual conferences during the 61st German Winegrowers Congress and listened to the talks by 120 speakers from 17 countries. More than almost any other trade fair, INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA 2013 attracted high-ranking politicians and representatives of the international winegrowing industry to Stuttgart: the opening ceremony featuring the presentation of the ARTVINUM INNOVATION Award in the International Congress Center on Tuesday evening was attended by Ilse Aigner, German Federal Minister of Agriculture, Claudia Inés Quini from Argentina, President of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), and Jean Paul Bachy, President of the Assembly of European Wine Regions (AREV). Günther H. Oettinger, EU Energy Commissioner, was the keynote speaker in the Conference on Sustainable Viticulture. Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble, German Federal Finance Minister, gave the keynote speech during the Distillers' Conference at the end of the trade fair on Saturday. The ranks of VIPs were rounded off by prominent figures from the international wine industry, for example Miguel Torres from Catalonia, Paul Cluver from South Africa and Dr. Georgios Tsantalis from Greece.

Contact:

Susanne Kirschbaum
Landesmesse Stuttgart GmbH
Susanne Kirschbaum
Teamleiterin Pressezentrum & Büro Organisation
Marketing-Kommunikation
Messepiazza 1
70629 Stuttgart
Telefon: 0711 18560 – 2255
Telefax: 0711 18560 – 2460
email: susanne.kirschbaum@messe-stuttgart.de