Straight to the sugar and wine fair | The most difficult and ‘cold’ meeting in history?Exhibitors look forward to next year’s spring heat supplier ‘spring sugar’ Finance Associated Press

Financial Associated Press, November 13 (Reporter Chen Mofanglu) The three-day 106th National Sugar and Wine Fair concluded in Chengdu on November 12. This year’s food and drink fair was postponed twice, which was hard won. A reporter from the Financial Associated Press saw on the spot that there was a small flow of people at the exhibition, and some booths were vacant. Some exhibitors have bluntly stated that this year’s popularity may be less than a tenth of previous years.

Although this winter’s sugar and wine fair is “very cold”, many respondents are still full of anticipation for next year’s spring sugar. Cai Xuefei, an analyst in the liquor industry and general manager of Zhiqu Consulting, also said in an interview with a Financial Associated Press reporter that, due to various factors, the number and scope of exhibitors and distributors this year they are really much lower than in previous years. Looking at it positively, this year also reflects the ability of some wineries to withstand the pressure. I believe there will be a rebound in spring sugar next year, and the scale and quality of participation will be much higher than this year.

“Colder” rum.

“The number of people (who visited the exhibition) this year may be less than a tenth of last year.” While visiting the China Food and Drinks Fair, many exhibitors expressed emotion to the Financial Associated Press reporter.

The National Food and Drinks Fair is also a “barometer” of China’s food industry. According to official information, this exhibition adopts the form of “one city, two halls” for the first time and is held simultaneously in Western China International Expo City and Chengdu Century City New International Convention and Exhibition Center, with an exhibition scale of 260,000 square meters.

The scope of this sugar and wine fair is unprecedented, yet many exhibitors have dubbed it “the coldest sugar and wine fair.”

On the official opening day of China Food and Drinks Fair on November 10, the reporter came to the main exhibition area of ​​the New Century International Convention and Exhibition Center, where there were only a few booths and many empty booths. The next day, a reporter from the Financial Associated Press came to the West China International Expo City, where snacks, milk drinks and condiments were displayed. They only saw two or three visitors, and the lawn in front of the gate of the huge expo city was even more empty. Some exhibitors even sighed: “There are more exhibitors and staff than people visiting the exhibition!”

Stage image of the China Food and Drinks Fair Photographed by a reporter from the Financial Associated Press

Photographed by a reporter from the Financial Association at the traditional alcohol exhibition area on the first day of the China Food and Drinks Fair

The empty booth at the China Food and Drinks Fair was photographed by a reporter from the Financial Association

The absence of resellers has also affected the turnover of some companies. Speaking about the turnover of the fair, some exhibitors told the Financial Associated Press reporter: “There are not many transactions in the last two days, and most of them come from the same sector.”

Cai Xuefei explained to a Financial Associated Press reporter that this year’s exhibition was affected by global factors, and travel restrictions in some areas were one aspect. “For example, merchants in Henan and Guangdong provinces have been the main distributors of the China Food and Drinks Fair in previous years. Their group is very large, but most of the wine merchants in these two provinces are absent this year.” year”.

Cai Xuefei also pointed out that another reason is that this year is actually a critical period for the adjustment of the liquor industry: “Since the second half of last year, the growth rate of the industry has slowed down, and the industry itself is declining. A turning point.”

He said that in the Internet age, the sugar and wine fair itself has normalized. Relatively speaking, “the role of the sugar and wine fair in attracting investment is decreasing. The effect of the sugar and wine fair should be outside the sugar and wine fair, and the effect of the sugar and wine fair sugar and wine is more about exposure and sales.”

Looking forward to the warm spring of “spring sugar”

Despite the cold weather this time, many exhibitors did not lower their expectations for the China Food and Drinks Fair. “See you next year, Sugar and Wine Fair!” has become many businesses’ goodbye message when they relocate.

A person who organized the exhibition told a Financial Associated Press reporter that although the sugar and wine fair is cold this year, its influence is still there. It seems that this year’s sugar and wine will be more like a warm-up for the next spring sugar of the year.

From a business point of view, although the flow of people to this sugar and wine fair has decreased, the quality of customers has increased. Someone from a winery told a Financial Associated Press reporter that while there aren’t many people this year, the quality isn’t bad: “All the people that come are real customers.”

In addition, the leading enterprise platform can further stabilize the trust of the participants. At the New International Convention and Exhibition Center in Century City, Kweichow Moutai (600519.SH), Shuijingfang (600779.SH), Shede Liquor (600702.SH) and other major wineries set up exquisite booths, and some senior winery executives also companies came to Rong Go to the exhibition.

Photographed by a Financial Associated Press reporter at the Shede Wine Industry booth

On the opening day, COFCO party group members and Vice President You Wei, Vice President and General Manager of Jiugui Liquor Company Zheng Yi, Deputy General Manager Wang Zhe and other high-level executives came to the Jiugui Liquor booth to applaud .

Looking forward to next year’s China Food and Drinks Fair, Cai Xuefei told reporters from the Financial Association, “The value of exhibitions and sales, the value of correspondence transactions, and the value of industry information release at China Sugar and Wine Fairs will be further restored. I think there will be a rebound in attendance. The quality will be much higher than this year”.

This year’s China Food and Drinks Fair is not over yet, and booth reservations for the 108th National Sugar and Wine Fair are already open. The Financial Associated Press reporter learned that the next spring sugar fair is scheduled for March next year and will still adopt the “one city, two halls” model, with an exhibition scale of 320,000 square meters.

(Editor Liu Yan)