The London Wine Fair delivers very positive results

fter a last-minute cancellation in 2020, a digital version in 2021 and a postponement in 2022 due to a date change by ProWein, it hasn’t all been plain sailing for the London Wine Fair over the past few years. 2023 therefore marked the major return of a renewed and revitalised exhibition with increased visitor and exhibitor footfall confirming appreciation of the revised format. Exhibitor numbers surged by 30% on last year, with 417 companies welcoming 14% more visitors (10,091 net visitors). Prominent UK agents such as Enotria & Coe, Felix Solis Avantis and Hatch Mansfield attended, with many countries choosing to host a national pavilion at the exhibition. Alongside the usual suspects including France, Italy and Spain, more under-the-radar countries such as Ukraine, Armenia and Moldova were featured at the event. Visitor to exhibitor ratio was particularly high, with 2023 delivering 24 visitors to each exhibitor.

Concurrently with the London Wine Fair, UK analyst IWSR published the findings of a survey revealing a slight uptick in confidence levels among British consumers. The percentage of those who believe they will be worse off in a year’s time has halved since September 2022. Although they remain concerned about the economic outlook, potentially cutting their spending on alcoholic drinks, UK drinkers are happier than they were in the autumn of 2022, notes IWSR. However, the economic situation has led to change in their drinking habits: although consumers continue to treat themselves on occasions they consider important, they buy more products on promotion and one third of them would rather treat themselves to a better quality drink at home than go out.

Inevitably, these choices do not bode well for the hospitality industry. IWSR predicts that the on-premise will not return to its pre-pandemic levels when it held almost 40% channel share of the UK market.