Given the restrictions on using conventional marketing tools (print, radio, TV advertising) for building brand awareness for wines (indeed, for all alcoholic beverages), wine producers fall back on wine fairs to foster producer-buyer interactions and to drive business.
Internationally, wine fairs are held in every wine-producing area — starting from the town and district level, and building up to the three biggest wine fairs in Europe: Italy (Vinitaly, April), London (International Wine Fair, May) and Bordeaux, France (Vinexpo, June, every two years). Of course, every wine-producing country has its own annual wine fair.
Wine fairs with both domestic and international participation have been held in India only for the last few years and have restricted themselves to Delhi and Mumbai — although smaller affairs have been held in Bangalore too. Organised along international standards, these fairs are held in December or January, and tend to be focussed on getting local representation or trade listings for international brands — of course, they also attract a number of wine enthusiasts eager to sample and learn.
Of late, however, wine fairs have started being organised in places like Goa, Nashik, Pune and Bangalore. Exclusively for domestic wines they target both the producers (for technical matters) and consumers (for sampling and buying) — a trend that looks to expand to everywhere where wine is produced and consumed. Here’s a ready reckoner of the domestic fairs:
Mahawine, Pune: What started off as a modest, consumer-oriented affair has now turned into a Confederation of Indian Industry’s International Conference & Expo on Grapes & Wines. The last was held in mid-January, 2009, and, apart from wine producers from Maharashtra, included suppliers of plant and machinery and even delegations from France! This has become an industry event, although the Pune Wine Club is an enthusiastic participant.
Great Escapade Wine Festival, Goa: Held for five years now, in early February, in Panjim, to coincide with the Goa Carnival, this is now a four-day affair supported by the Goan authorities. It clearly targets tourists with Goan food, music, dance and, of course ,wines — both the stuff produced in Goa as well as elsewhere in India. Good for local colour — and Goa is always a terrific place for a holiday.
Wine Fest & Seminar, Bangalore: The first local wine fair in Bangalore was organised by the Karnataka Wine Board in mid-July 2009 in the 200-acre Lal Bagh gardens, and was a bit of a mela with enthusiastic participation from the many grape farmers looking to capitalise on liberalised licensing under the new Karnataka Wine Policy and consumers looking for wines at a discount (from Grover Vineyards and the two new local wine brands: Kinvah and Naka/ Maya). Bound to grow in the future.
India Wine Show, Nashik: Last held in 2007, this is the largest and best-organised industry event in India. It coincides with the International Trade Fair & Conference, held bi-annually, at Nashik (Krishi 2009 is scheduled for November 26-30, 2009). Not surprising, since a majority of the wineries in India are centred around Nashik. This is clearly an industry event, not for the consumers (although sampling does take place).
So, are these “local” wine fairs serving any purpose, or are they just designed to generate some revenues for their respective organisers? And is what’s being done enough, or do they need to do things differently?
I believe all these wine fairs serve an important function: To get the players in a nascent industry together, where some events are more evolved than the others.
However, it’s important for the organisers to clearly define their audience for the wine fair — is it for the industry, or buyers and consumers? — and design the event accordingly. A single affair should not try to be “all things to all people”.
That’s fair enough — may the number of fairs increase, particularly those for us thirsty consumers.
