China int'l import expo offers Argentine wine industry opportunity to grow: industry insider

BUENOS AIRES - The upcoming 3rd China International Import Expo (CIIE), to be held in November in Shanghai, offers Argentine wine makers the chance to showcase their premium products and increase their market share, an industry representative said.

The first and second editions of the fair, in 2018 and 2019, led to "concrete progress" in making the trade connections needed to begin exports from Argentina, Nicolas Perinetti, Casarena winery's export manager for Asia, recently told Xinhua.

This year's CIIE will open a window of opportunity for producers to feature their top-tier wines in a bid to secure a larger slice of China's growing and increasingly more sophisticated consumer market, Perinetti said.

"Chinese consumers are learning more and more about wine. That is good for Argentina because our country wants to position itself within a segment of high-end reserve wines, to publicize the quality of Argentine wines and not compete in prices with other countries," said Perinetti.

"This knowledge, which is being strengthened through the tastings that events such as the CIIE allow, motivates consumers to acquire quality products," he said.

During its participation in the 2019 expo, Casarena closed business deals worth around $350,000 and grew its distribution network of upscale wines to reach more Chinese provinces, such as Zhejiang, Anhui, Shandong and Hubei, Perinetti said.

"Last year what we did was to expand the distribution network by adding other clients from other provinces of China that are close to Shanghai, because our importer is in Shanghai," he said.

After the expo's second edition, Casarena succeeded in selling four containers of medium and high-end wines, or 76,000 bottles.

"About 40 percent of our exports go to China and we aspire to increase that figure to 50 percent," Perinetti said.

This third edition will make it possible to continue consolidating trade ties and expand to more provinces in a market considered "strategic" for the value-added products Argentina offers, said the industry insider.