AlcoCongress and Wine Forum at Prodexpo 2021

“Social accountability of the alcohol market participants”, “Advertisement and information”, “Online trade” – these are the themes of the 16th Russian Conference on the Alcoholic Beverages Market – AlcoCongress 2021 and the 7th Wine Forum, held within the Prodexpo 2021 International Exhibition at Expocentre Fairgrounds.

The Congress and Forum are perceived by the professional community as a platform for effective communication between alcohol industry participants and relevant state and intergovernmental agencies, such as the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service, Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation, Ministry of Economic Development, Eurasian Economic Commission, as well as legislators and representatives of regional authorities.

This time, the industry experts, leading producers and suppliers of alcohol products, representatives of the authorities and relevant organisations discussed a wide range of topics related to the development and regulation of the domestic alcohol market.

The in-depth discussions provided a comprehensive analysis of the situation in the industry, looked at the government regulation, the problems of investment in the alcohol industry, as well as practical tools for market operators, including marketing, finance, and analytics.

Speaking at AlcoCongress, Pavel Funtikov, an expert from Nielsen Marketing Analytics Company, cited recent measurements on the Russian FMCG market in particular. On the whole, sales of such goods are declining. However, against this general background, as many as six alcoholic beverage categories are showing a growing positive trend in sales. These are champagne, rum, liqueurs, cognac, whisky and gin. Tequila, beer and vodka were also in positive trend although vodka had shown negative trend a year ago, said the analyst. According to him, the alcohol industry is increasing its share in relation to other macro groups of FMCG products.

Participants in the subsequent Wine Forum focused on discussing wine culture under the conditions of bans and restrictions on alcohol advertising, as well as the prospects for allowing online sales of alcohol, possible mechanisms for controlling the legality of alcohol distributed via the Internet, and other topics of concern to the industry.

The AlcoCongress and Wine Forum ended with an awards ceremony for the winners of the Prodexpo Wine Guide professional competition.

The day before, the winners of another major competition – the 23rd International Tasting Competition of Prodexpo 2021 - were awarded. In accordance with international practice, the tasting was held before the exhibition. The competition was attended by 217 companies from all over the world, including the leaders of the alcoholic drinks industry, both producers and dealers. More than 900 beverages from 24 countries were tasted. The beverages awarded medals of the competition gain official recognition as the best beverages on the Russian market.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO