- Fair with 1,450 producers across 10 countries and 7,000 attendees
- France has 19% more organically-grown vines than in 2019. Many consumers still need to be convinced
The decision to adopt the phygical model follows the success of last year’s 100% online fair which involved 900 online exhibitors. This year’s virtual event, in January, was smaller, with 480 producers across 10 countries reportedly having 5,000 conversations. Many producers evidently preferred to be among the 1,450 who showed their products in person at the live event in Montpelier.
As the French magazine Vitisphere reported, attendance at the physical fair was 20% down from 2020, but it still attracted a respectable 7,000 attendees and the organisers were pleased to see that, despite the remaining Covid restrictions and the Russia-Ukraine war, one in five of the visitors had come from outside France. Reflecting the growing international significance of an event that was once seen as focused on southern France, the products on show this year came from 20 countries.
France has 19% more organically-grown vines than in 2019, and the shift away from conventional viticulture is continuing. If a study conducted in December 2021 by InterOc, the organisation representing the IGP Pays d’Oc, is to be believed however, French consumers are not quite as convinced as these producers. When asked to name their top four reasons for buying a wine, only 15% of the 1,000 respondents included the presence of an environmentally responsible label. Price, region, grape variety and vintage were all seen as being more important. Being green came 11th on the list of criteria, ahead of environmentally-responsible packaging which was cited by only 5%.
