EU-27 Annual Wine Report 2009; Consumption to Fall Due to Economic Downturn(13)

MARKETING
EU wine promotion abroad
The promotional activities of the EU wines follow the different programs implemented by
each leading wine producer and exporter, and are carried out both within the EU and in the
most important world markets.
In France, the Government and inter-professional organizations underwrite assistance for
the domestic and international promotion of wines for the French market promotion agency
(SOPEXA) which actively promotes French wines in the EU and overseas markets. VINIFLHOR
(the French Association for Horticultural and Wine Products) receives funding from SOPEXA
for foreign promotions, mainly in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Promotional activities are
focused on advertising campaigns, POS, in-store promotions in hotels, restaurants,
specialized outlets, trade shows and fairs. The budget for these promotional activities is not
publicly available. VINIFLHOR also administers EU subsidies allocated to the French wine
sector including export refunds and assistance earmarked for vineyard reconstruction,
distillation, and grape juice fortification.
In Germany the German Wine Institute is spending €1.5 million to promote Riesling wines in
the United States for the period 2008-2010. Media presence will be intensified and a
Riesling-Week will be organized in restaurants in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and San
Francisco. International promotion of German wines will primarily focus on Riesling and Late
Burgundy wines
In Austria 2008 promotional activities concentrated on Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, the
Czech Republic, Sweden, Italy, Norway, and Poland. Targeted non-EU countries are
Switzerland and the United States. The new EU sales promotion program for third country
export markets has enabled access to previously difficult markets like Russia and the entire
Asian region. Austrian wine promotion is carried out by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board
(AWMB). The purpose of the AWMB is the implementation of marketing measures for
Austrian wine. It received its budget from marketing contributions of the Austrian wine
industry (3 million Euros in 2007), the federal states (2.5 million Euros in 2007) and the
Austrian federal budget (1.5 million Euros in 2007).
In Hungary an amount of HUF 5 (USD 0.03) is now collected as check off for a wine
marketing fund. The check off program funds Hungary¡¯s new 2008 wine export promotion
program targeting China, Canada, and the United States. The first promotional events in
New York and Chicago were opened by the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development during his trip to the United States last May.
In Spain wine producers are assisted in their promotional efforts by the Ministry of
Agriculture, as well as by the governmental agency ICEX (Spanish Foreign Trade Institute),
which invests substantial efforts to investigate, analyze, and publish information about the
wine sector within many foreign export markets. The Spanish Government recently launched
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UNCLASSIFIED USDA Foreign Agricultural Service
¡°Strategy Wine 2010,¡± encouraging and helping wine producers to become more competitive
in European and third-country markets. Recently the Spanish have ramped up marketing
efforts in the United States, UK, Germany Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and
then extended to Russia, Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong and China.
In Italy the Italian Trade Commission (ICE), an agency of the Ministry of Economic
Development, continues to be the main public institution providing export and promotion
assistance in foreign markets. Funds used by ICE to promote Italian food and agricultural
products, including wines, are provided by the Government, as well as the 20 Italian regions,
which use ICE as their primary means for promoting their products. Furthermore, some
leading trade and farmer associations and many private companies, along with cooperatives
and consortia, give ICE contributions to carry out promotion abroad. It is estimated that
total expenditures to promote Italian wines abroad, both within the EU and in third countries,
will reach about € 5 million in 2009. Major promotional events include workshops, wine
tastings, and point of sale promotions, mainly targeting the U.S., U.K., Canada, Switzerland
and Japan. However, the focus is increasingly shifting to some growing markets, both in Asia
and Eastern Europe. The Ministry of Economic Development¡¯s allocation is spent almost
entirely at fairs and shows, where the cost of national pavilions is shared with private
companies. Other activities include financing trade teams to Italy, and organizing wine
tastings.