SIMEI, the International Exhibition of Machinery for Wine making and Bottling

On Saturday 26 November the 24th year of SIMEI, the International Exhibition of Machinery for Wine making and Bottling organised by the Unione Italiana Vini in the Fiera-Milano exhibition centre in Rho, came to a close.
 
A very important event offering a world preview of the technical solutions for all operators in the beverage, wine-growing and wine-making sector which has grown over the years as well as an excellent overview for all the production technologies of the beverages in general.
 
The organisation has as always concentrated on the action necessary to guarantee the attendance of company representatives in charge of selecting and buying the products and services on show.
 
The outcome of interviews held with the exhibitors confirms the success of the event. Most say they have benefitted from the attendance of selected national and international operators who were both very interested and well informed. In particular the gradual development of the beverages area has rewarded the farsightedness of the organisation as regards the future exchange of information and experience among the various sectors and the increasingly cosmopolitan nature of SIMEI.
 
The figures for Simei 2011: 716 exhibiting companies (25 countries) over an exhibiting area of 80,000 square metres and more than 48,000 visitors including 9,400 foreigners (90 countries).
 
Lucio Mastroberardino, the Simei chairman, expressed his thanks to the numerous companies that have once again put their trust in SIMEI and the Unione Italiana Vini which organizes it and which: “has worked hard to increase the size and the international nature of the exhibitions and make a concrete contribution to the growth of companies in the industry”.
 
The careful promotion work carried out by the event organisers, especially in terms of foreign visitors, led to very high profile visitors from the industry. 
 
An overview showing a strong increase in the number of trade visitors from countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Turkey, Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary, other eastern European countries, China, Israel and Poland.
 
This is confirmed by the satisfaction of most exhibitors who were able to speak directly to very interested operators.
 
“Considering the current economic climate both in Italy and worldwide - said the UIV Chairman Mastroberardino - Simei aimed at high quality in terms of the operators and professionals by encouraging the attendance of visitors with decision and buying power.”
 
Despite the great difficulties on many world markets, even in 2010 the technology sector showcased at Simei made a concrete contribution to the real economy of our country which, with a positive balance of approximately 1.7 billion Euros in terms of exports, confirmed a 20% growth which continued into the first six months of 2011.

The Innovation Award
2011 was the first year of the “Technological Innovation prize” conceived by the Unione Italiana Vini to promote, as Vice Chairman, Domenico Zonin confirmed, excellence in machinery, equipment, products and services for companies in the wine-growing and wine-making, beverage and food processing sectors as well as consumers.
More than 30 companies from all over the world took part in the competition which led to a preview of a total of 36 projects. Among these, judged by a Committee of leading authorities in Italian university research and technical experts from some of the most important wine-growing and wine-making companies in Italy, the winners of the 4 prizes and 12 special mentions were selected.
 
The experience of the senses.
The Wine and Oil Bars (Hall 15) were a great success. Thanks to these the public were able to taste the products of the best Italian companies with wine tasting sessions and demos of the educational activities carried out by the UIV for sensory analysis. 
 
Conferences
Over 2000 visitors took part in the numerous conferences and seminars held during the event which offered them the opportunity to meet and discuss the main issues and topics involving the industry today.
 
SIMEI and ENOVITIS gave positive signs.
The event’s well tried and tested and appreciated model was developed still further thanks to continuous hard work which led to the new format. This demonstrated the importance of being able to cover the entire production chain and develop an increasingly articulate structure of content and services to promote the union of demand and supply.