April 16th – On April 12, 2024, the first edition of ProWine Tokyo, organized by Messe Düsseldorf Japan, came to a successful close at the modern Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center. For three days, 197 exhibitors presented their latest vintages and innovative products. The organizers recorded a very satisfying number of 5,500 trade visitors from trade (import, wholesale, specialist trade) and gastronomy (F&B, restaurants, bars, catering, hotels). ProWine Tokyo took place concurrently with FABEX – The World Food and Beverage Great Expo which is held annually together with a series of other trade fairs for gourmet food and beverages at the Big Sight exhibition center in Tokyo, providing a comprehensive overview of the sector.
Exhibits at the premiere of ProWine Tokyo include wine, beer, sake, shochu & awamori, spirits, craft beverages, non-alcoholic and low-alcoholic beverages, accessories and services. A total of 90% of the exhibitors came to Japan from abroad. France, Germany, Spain and Portugal took part with large joint stands. Overall, 20 countries/regions were represented, including Armenia, Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Moldova, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK, Ukraine and the U.S. 925 brands were presented, 77% of which are not yet imported to Japan. This provided an excellent opportunity to get to know the latest products.
Akiko Ohara, General Manager of Messe Düsseldorf Japan Ltd, and Peter Schmitz, Director of ProWein, Messe Düsseldorf, commented on the successful premiere: “The market for wine and spirits in Japan is very promising and offers good business opportunities. We are proud and happy that we have managed to bring here the successful concept of ProWein – one based on diversity, internationality and a pure business focus. ProWine Tokyo got off to a very good start this year and we will continue to work on this basis for the next edition in 2025. We look forward to further developing the show into the No. 1 wine and spirits event in Japan.”
The exhibitors also praised the first edition of ProWine Tokyo and were very pleased with the results. Sandrine Krummenacher, Business France, stated: “Our feedback for ProWine Tokyo 2024 is very positive. It was a good choice for Business France to be there for this first edition of ProWine Tokyo with a French pavilion. We came with 26 exhibitors from all French regions. All of them can highlight the quality of visitors. As usual, ProWein trade fairs are very well organized. We will definitely be back!” Johannes Leitz from the LEITZ winery in Germany (VDP) added: “ProWine Tokyo stands for German precision and expertise in Japan. It is just as well organized as the ‘original’ ProWein in Germany. Our expectations for ProWine Tokyo were clearly exceeded, both in terms of the number of people and the quality of the trade visitors. We are completely satisfied and glad to have taken this opportunity.” Goncalo Rowett, Vinho Verde from Portugal, said: “The Japanese market is very interesting for Vinho Verde. A total of 18 producers took the opportunity to present their wines at ProWine Tokyo to this growing market. About half of our producers were looking for an importer. Those who already had one found many good contacts with restaurants, bars and hotels. We also used the forum to hold two masterclasses. Both events were very well attended and show the great interest in our wines from the region Vinho Verde.” Grumic Mladen from Vaucluse (France) also gave positive feedback: “ProWine Tokyo is very well organized and we were able to concentrate on good business for three days. We saw a large number of trade visitors come to our stand, including many importers, wholesalers, restaurants and also representatives of the press. The visitors were very keen to explore and showed great interest in our Rosé wines in particular.” Patrick Bigar, Champagne Bigar, remarked: “At the premiere of ProWine Tokyo we were part of the Champagne Lounge. We presented our brand ‘Champagne Emile Paris’ and the interest was very high. Our aim was to find an importer in Japan and I think that ProWine Tokyo was an ideal platform for this.”
Varied onsite program
ProWine Tokyo aims to be not only a business platform for exhibitors, but also a stage for worldwide professionals to gain insights on trends and issues that the global wine and spirits sector is facing. The onsite program focused on the following areas:
Tasting lounge by MUNDUS VINI – Germany’s international wine competition with over 7,500 entries from around the world. ProWine Tokyo presented 103 awarded wines, including 20 non-alcoholic wines. Champagne Lounge – always a highlight at ProWein in Germany. Visitors were able to explore high-quality yet little known Champagnes. The ProWein Forum was complemented by two Champagne tastings by Patrick Schmitt, Master of Wine and editor-in-chief of The Drinks Business. At the Spirits Bar, bartenders presented various ways to enjoy spirits, using products from exhibitors. The Japanese trade magazine Wine Kingdom organized the Label Contest and focused on brands with a future.
ProWein – Ticket to the world
ProWine Tokyo is a satellite event of “ProWein” – the world’s largest professional trade fair for wines and spirits held in Düsseldorf, Germany since 1994 (5,400 exhibitors from all over the world took part in March 2024). Changing the German spelling of “Wein” to “Wine,” the ProWine brand has already been launched in Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Sao Paulo, and now came to Tokyo for the first time. The next edition of ProWine Tokyo will be held from April 15 – 17, at Tokyo Big Sight, concurrently with FABEX 2025.
For further information on visiting or exhibiting at ProWine Tokyo 2025, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America; Telephone: (312) 781-5180; E-mail: info@mdna.com; Visit https://www.prowein-world.com/en/ProWine_Tokyo and www.mdna.com. Follow us on https://www.linkedin.com/company/mdnachicago/
