Hong Kong remains top wine attraction in region

Just over six months after the record breaking 4th Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair, VinExpo Asia-Pacific, held also at the same Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre recently from May 29 to 31, made history anew. VinExpo exceeded the previous fair by attracting a new apex of 1,050 exhibitors from 28 countries (first time to bridge 4-digit in number of exhibitors), toppling the last Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair´s previous peak of 930 exhibitors. The previous VinExpo Hong Kong in 2010 attracted 882 exhibitors, so this year grew by a staggering 19 percent, necessitating extra 2,000 square meters space to take up a massive 10,500 square meters size. Being a trade event, the support of exhibitors is the lifeline of the fair. Based on on-line registration records, the VinExpo Asia-Pacific this year was expected to receive 14,000+ visitors from 33 countries. I have to say from personal observation too, I saw more Filipino wine importers this year than in any previous VinExpo Asia-Pacific or Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair. VinExpo is an annual trade event, with odd years held at Bordeaux France, and even years, known as VinExpo Asia-Pacific held in Asia. Hong Kong was the first chosen venue in 1998, then in 2000 and 2002, the venue shifted to Tokyo Japan, but returned to Hong Kong in 2006, and has stayed in Hong Kong bi-annually since then.

Biggest growth region

According to VinExpo statistics, the Asia-Pacific region is home to $142.5 billion worth of wine and spirits. Wine contributes $18.6 billion or 13 percent, while the region remains by far the world´s biggest consumers of spirits. Hong Kong and China in general are the largest catalysts of this regional surge, with Hong Kong being the window to the Mainland. Since the unprecedented removal of wine tax in Hong Kong circa February 2008, Hong Kong wine imports have been unstoppable, growing exponentially, and reaching over HK$10 billion ($1.6 billion). This is a chart defying 245 percent increase since end of 2007 where total imports reached HK$2.9 billion ($ 0.5 billion). Of course the glaring numbers also include a good portion (around 30 percent) re-exported. With majority going to Mainland China through the backdoor, as Mainland China wine tax is between 45-50 percent of CIF price. And other Hong Kong re-exports coming here to Southeast Asia where tax varies between the more reasonable Singapore and Philippine wine tax system, and the insanely high 300 percent+ wine tax system in Thailand and Indonesia.

Diversity of exhibitors

The breadth and depth of participating wine exhibitors this year was overwhelming. The French still dominated the field with a very central location for their pavilion of which every conceivable wine region was represented. The Bordeaux section remained the most popular, followed by Champagne and Burgundy. Big names like Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Champagne Louis Roederer, Hugel & Fils of Alsace, and Burgundy powerhouse Maison Louis Jadot were all present. The French after all leads both Hong Kong and Mainland China in market share by country of wine import origin. Spain had the second largest group with the Spanish pavilion much bigger than any of the previous VinExpo Asia-Pacific. On the New World side, the Americas were quite large too, with North America led by California and a big pavilion for Washington State, and South America bannered by Chile, Argentina and a surprising 15 exhibitors from Uruguay. Huge names from the Americas include E&J Gallo, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Montes, Concha y Toro, Cono Sur and Catena Zapata. And from Asia, China was represented by Dynasty Wines, Yantai Changyu and the highly rated Grace Vineyard. China is already at present a top 10 wine producing country, buoyed by large local consumption. The Australian section was also much more prominent this year than 2010, following also its boycott of VinExpo Asia-Pacific in 2008 (due to perceived shabby treatment in VineExpo Bordeaux in 2007). But all was well again, as the Australian and the New Zealand wineries enjoyed great traffic and it was quite nice to see Australia back in full force in VinExpo Asia-Pacific. On the spirits side, it was a bit quiet as most of the ones participating were boutique distillers with super premium limited bottle released products meant for the Chinese markets of Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. While tax has been zero on wine in Hong Kong since February 2008, spirits are still taxed 100 percent at present.

Next wine event in November

Hong Kong is still sizzling when it comes to wine as confirmed by all the right indicators, from undeniable import numbers, number of recent VinExpo exhibitors, omnipresent wine consumption visible in on-premise accounts all over the country, and general wine talk heard and seen in all forms of media. And come November 8 to 10 this year, all regional forces of the wine universe will again reconvene at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wanchai when the 5th Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair takes its turn at further promoting wines in the region. Hong Kong is indeed the undisputed hub for wine in the region, and only Shanghai or Beijing may be able to dislodge Hong Kong in the future – and that may not be that far in the horizon knowing how quickly China is evolving. My only problem with Hong Kong, specifically in the Wanchai Convention Centre is the taxi queue during these wine events. Not only is the queue of waiting passengers long, which is understandable, but many of these insolent Hong Kong taxi drivers actually bypass the taxi queue and pick up passengers right next to the queue for ridiculous contracted rates. This is nothing we Filipinos have not heard of locally, but in Hong Kong? And charges are from HK$150- HK$200 for a regular metered fare of HK$20-HK$25. This is downright criminal!

For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, wine consultancy and other wine related concerns, please e-mail me at protegeinc@yahoo.com. I am a proud member of the Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. You can also follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/sherwinlao.