Image courtesy of Messe Düsseldorf / ctillmann

ProWein 2025, held in Düsseldorf, Germany from16 to 18 March, sent out a clear signal for innovation, vision and future-proofness in challenging times for the worldwide wine and spirits sector characterised by internationally declining sales and looming trade barriers. The fair has succeeded in highlighting future prospects, providing impetus, setting trends and facilitating numerous successful business deals.

Platform for global networking

A total of around 4,200 exhibitors from 65 nations presented their wines and spirits in eleven exhibition halls. All relevant wine regions were represented with their major market leaders. Despite the tense market situation, the quality of the event remained at a high level.

“In difficult sales times, ProWein shows it is the industry’s go-to trade fair where producers can successfully plan their business year. ProWein’s long-standing international profile and expertise is impressive proof of this and underpins its outstanding position in the highly competitive global trade fair market. We are very proud to have been on the market for over 30 years and to have developed such a unique networking and sales event,” explains Marius Berlemann, chief operating officer of Messe Düsseldorf.

Successful trade fair business thanks to numerous top decision-makers

About 42,000 key professionals from 128 countries travelled to Düsseldorf to follow the latest developments in the industry, meet important exhibitors and forge valuable business relationships. Almost half the top buyers from food retail, specialist and online retail and the restaurant/catering trade came from Germany, one of the most important import markets. However, ProWein is also a magnet for international, high-purchasing trade visitors from the central European sales markets Benelux, Great Britain and Scandinavia. Decision-makers and buyers with purchasing power travelled from the USA, Japan, South Korea and China. Branch experts showed great interest in German wines, but also in the entire international range. They gave ProWein top marks, with 94% rating their visit to the trade fair as successful.

“ProWein has been a fantastic experience. It plays a critical role in keeping the global wine world connected, trading ideas and continuing the flow of international wine and spirits commerce. It was great to see and taste with so many familiar producers and suppliers and an exciting opportunity to build new relationships,” explained Matt Tornabene, president and CEO of Manhattan Wine Company in New York.

Monika Reule, managing director of the German Wine Institute, gave a positive verdict on ProWein 2025:

“German exhibitors were very satisfied with this year’s ProWein against the backdrop of a tense market environment. With their wide range of fresh white and rosé wines, they particularly benefited from the global demand for these types of wine, something reflected in the large number of visitors in the German halls. The quality of trade visitors from Germany and abroad was once again highly praised, meaning ProWein once again fully lived up to its reputation as a leading international trade fair this year.”

Pascale Thieffry, director of the Pavilions France department at Business France, emphasised that, “ProWein in Düsseldorf is one of the most important events in the industry offering French exhibitors the opportunity to expand their business and strengthen relationships with decision-makers from all over the world”.

Innovations, trends and networking

The world economic forum of the wine and spirits industry in Düsseldorf already kicked off on the eve of ProWein with Meininger’s Wine Conference. At the trade fair itself a compact supporting programme complemented the comprehensive ranges of international exhibitors. One new format was the ProWein Business Forum. This covered key topics such as sustainability, digitalisation and the future of wine consumption. Experts and thought leaders in the industry discussed current challenges and opportunities over all three days of the fair, providing visitors with valuable insights into how to shape the future of the industry.

ProWein is also an innovation driver in the NoLo segment. Three years ago, it successfully launched the special show ProWein Zero. This year, 40 international exhibitors and a large tasting zone organised by MUNDUS VINI presented the variety of this fast-growing segment.

Resounding success for new food and wine pairing concept

This year, ProWein put the topic of food and wine pairing in the spotlight. For example, the gastro-lounge “urban gastronomy by #asktoni” was dedicated to this topic with the three top restaurateurs Alina Meissner-Bebrout, Björn Freitag and Bobby Bräuer, among others. Other star chefs and food experts created extraordinary menu compositions as part of the varied supporting programme, picking up on the perfect food and wine pairings in various enjoyable formats.

ProWein worldwide

ProWein not only offers the industry “exclusive impulses” in Düsseldorf in March, with the satellite events in Tokyo (15-17 April 2025), Hong Kong (14-16 May), Sao Paulo (30 September-2 October), Mumbai (31 October-1 November), Shanghai (12-14 November) and Singapore (21-24 April 2026) also taking the industry to important future markets. Information on these overseas trade fairs can be found HERE.

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