This year, Barcelona Wine Week will coincide with Alimentaria

The evolution of the pandemic has forced Fira de Barcelona to start 2022 by rescheduling its event calendar again. On Tuesday, the postponement of the audiovisual technology fair Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) was announced, which instead of being held in early February will take place between May 10 and 13. This Thursday, the company Alimentaria Exhibitions, owned by Fira, has also opted to change the dates of the Barcelona Wine Week (BWW) as a consequence of the contagious virulence of the Omicron variant of covid.

The wine event was scheduled for February 7, 8, and 9, but it has been postponed two months and, if the health crisis does not prevent it again, it will be held between April 4 and 6. On those same dates, the Salón Alimentaria & Hostelco will take place, occupying the pavilions of the Gran Via venue, while the BWW will be held in the Monjtuïc exhibition palaces.

It should be noted that Barcelona Wine Week could be considered a spin-off of Alimentaria, as it is the heir to the former Salón Intervin, which was last held in 2018. In agreement with the exhibiting companies and sectoral organizations, Alimentaria agreed to stop organizing Intervin and launch a new fair with a much more innovative format, conceived to be held completely independently of Alimentaria and focused on becoming the largest platform for the promotion and internationalization of Spanish wine. The old Salón Intervin had lost momentum in recent years and, furthermore, its location in the fair calendar harmed exhibitors, as many potential buyers preferred to attend other important wine fairs held in Germany, France, or Italy.

Thus, Barcelona Wine Week was born in the first week of February 2020 ---a month and a half before the first lockdown--- with the aim of occupying the first place in the international calendar of wine events. Although there were large wineries that chose not to participate, the fair was considered a success, with 550 companies and 40 denominations of origin represented and nearly 15,600 professional visitors, 13% from 54 countries. The intention of the BWW is to be held every year, unlike Alimentaria, which takes place every two.

In a statement, the BWW explained that the simultaneity with Alimentaria will be "a totally exceptional event resulting from the current context," so the intention is to hold the event independently again in February 2023. The goal is for more than 600 wineries to participate in this second edition and to reach the figure of 20,000 professionals.

"The clearly international positioning has conditioned the change of dates, since our main objective is to increase the business opportunities of the exhibiting companies, providing them with meetings and contact opportunities with international buyers, distributors and importers to increase their exports or facilitate their access to new markets," explains Javier Pagés, president of the show.

"International travel and meetings will be more normalized on the new dates. We believe that the context will be more suitable to preserve the value proposition, guarantee maximum return to participating companies and ensure the future projection of the show, as we saw in its successful first edition," says J. Antonio Valls, general director of Alimentaria Exhibitions, organizer of the BWW.