| Wineries participating through their wines are Fratelli, Mercury, Krsma and Luca. Conspicuous by their absence are the top wineries including Sula, Grover Zampa, Four Seasons and Nine Hills. For the last three years, India Grape Processing Board has been taking part by renting the space and further distributing space to 8 wineries participating at subsidized rates, with Sula and the like being a part of the Showcase.
Indian wineries have participated at the London International Wine Fair for the third year running. Perhaps the bigger wineries like Sula, Grover Zampa and Four Seasons have already appointed distributors and did not feel the need to take part or there could have been some confusion about the change of guard at the government end. APEDA, the governmental export promotion agency, handled food wines along with tea, coffee and several other commodities including wine till IGPB got the mandate to participate in the shows exclusively.
The participation is being made under the Wines of India umbrella. Mercury is looking for an importer for its Aryaa range of wines in UK. Luca is perhaps looking for expanding the business of fruit wines-its' litchi and mango wines have been quite popular in the international markets, according to the company. Fratelli is participating ostensibly because of APEDA making a special request-it has been taking part in the wine shows since inception anyway. Krsma is a boutique winery in Andhra Pradesh that has not made much impact in the Indian market yet but has developed a good reputation for its quality wines.
The officials involved with felicitating wine exports at the IGPB were not available for comment. Earlier, it had been anticipated that they would participate in any selected wine show for 3 years. Hong Kong, Prowein and London were chosen by the IGPB as the first three destinations and the participating wineries had a varied success rate at these shows.
Before IGPB took over, the export promotion was being done through APEDA only but with marginal impact. APEDA has always taken the view that the Indian wineries do not take the export seriously while the producers felt that APEDA had too many products already in their portfolio and could not do justice to the wines.
Since then much water has flowed under the bridge. There has been a big increase in export efforts by the wine industry. For example, Mercury has been participating every year to find the right importer. Veral Pancholia, the director, says that he would also like to cater to the top Indian restaurant chains in UK and influence the chefs. Fratelli has been looking to expand the market abroad as it has found quality acceptance in the Indian market.
In the meanwhile, China has participated for the first time in the London International Wine Show held from 20-22 May. Its wines have been making a rapid progress in quality and very soon China and India will be pitted against each other by the international wine community to choose their wines from.
Tags: London International Wine Fair, Indian Grape Processing Board, APEDA, IGPB, Wines of India, London International Wine Show, Fratelli, Luca, Krsma, Mercury, India- wineries, London |