London set Fair for Wine extravaganza

With more than 1,250 exhibitors and 25,000 visitors, the London International Wine & Spirits Fair has become one of the most important dates on the calendar for anyone involved in selling wine.

From humble beginnings with only a handful of tables above Derry & Thom's department store 26 years ago in Kensington, the exhibition has blossomed through a long residency at Olympia and ended up at ExCeL in Docklands, a 21st-century venue reflecting the modern wine industry.

During the fair's lifetime, the UK wine market has changed considerably from a French, German and Italian-dominated vanguard to a diverse mix of styles and countries of origin.

The 2006 LIWSF mirrors this shift, with organiser Brintex saying that supplier presence at the fair will be split about evenly between Old and New World wines, with no fewer than 34 countries represented.

The fair's recent move to ExCeL was poorly received by the trade's more conservative elements, but they seem to have recovered now.

Fair director James Murray says: "Clearly, the move to ExCeL has proved very successful. Visitor numbers have grown by 7% year on year and our pre-registration this year is very healthy, suggesting that growth will continue."

Despite consolidation in the global wine market, which has bought a decreasing supplier base, Brin-tex says this year's fair will be 5% bigger in area.

Offering choice and variety

"That's 5% on a lot of floor space already," says Murray. "It's not our sole objective to be the biggest in the world but we always aim to

offer more choice and variety."

Great Western Wines is one of the companies that has decided to increase its floor space at this year's fair by more than 50%, in a move to accommodate new agencies from Australia, South Africa, Argentina and Italy.

Managing director Philip Addis says: "At the end of the day, the UK wine trade is all about nurturing close personal relationships with customers. This fair is one of the key opportunities in the trade calendar for us to catch up with our existing customers and make new contacts - so we took the decision to increase our investment this year."

Although the traditional wine-producing countries have had to cede ground to new pretenders like Australia, Chile and South Africa in recent years, the 2006 fair reflects to some degree how the Old World nations have tuned in to the need to fight back.

France is taking 18% more space for its pavilions this year, with new umbrella groupings of Champagne

producers and Corsican winemakers in attendance.

Italy is doubling its presence with the emerging regions of Abruzzo and Puglia taking their own space for the first time.

Israel is among the first-time generic exhibitors, with half a dozen producers in attendance.

Murray says: "Adding features to the show gives buyers even more reasons to attend."

The fair will have a special Spirits Zone again this year, with Brintex claiming that 95% of buyers visiting the fair have responsibility for purchasing both wines and spirits. Murray says the zone will have a specific focus on liqueurs, tequila and pisco from Peru.