No INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA 2022

With only around five months left to go, Messe Stuttgart and the German Winegrowers' Association (DWV) have announced that the INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA trade fair will no longer be taking place as planned in April 2022. Unaffected by this decision is the 64th International DWV Congress, which will be held by the DWV from 10 to 12 April 2022 in Stuttgart, Germany.

DWV and Messe Stuttgart have long supported the INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA concept, only recently introducing new ideas to create a sustainable and international platform for this sector. With no clear commitment to INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA 2022 shown by Germany's market leaders, organisers have decided not to hold the event again next year. Under these circumstances, meeting the high international standards already set by this event is not financially viable. As Sebastian Schmid, Technology Department Director at Messe Stuttgart, explains: “It was a great feeling to have those companies back on board who had been sorely missed from previous events. Coming together to implement a seminal and sustainable concept with the aim of establishing a top international industry get-together for the wine-producing sector at a prime location for technology and innovative thinking in Germany. Regional-based event formats are already covered by two events in Mainz and Karlsruhe.” The cancellation is particularly regrettable for the trade fair organisers as promising talks had been held by the German organisers in 2019 about how to improve the trade fair calendar. An international platform for the sector will surely be needed in the long term irrespective of the location.

International DWV Congress on course
Preparations are successfully underway for the 64th International DWV Congress that will be held by the DWV. Christian Schwörer, Secretary General of the DWV, shared an update on the current planning stage: “Together with the scientific advisory board, we have made great progress when it comes to programme planning. Under the title “Sustainably shaping change in the wine sector”, several congress topics and expert groups have emerged in which participants can discuss the various aspects of sustainable change. The focus here is not only on environmental aspects, but economic and social ones too. Current social and political discussions will be integrated into the expert talks, with ways in which the wine sector can act systematically explored.” New for 2022: in addition to the simultaneous translation of German into English, there will be live streams from almost all conference rooms for the first time.

DWV Innovation Award
Preparations for relaunching the DWV Innovation Award are currently underway. This award will once again recognise those technical processes, systems, products and services that have decisively improved current standards at some point along the entire process chain. The new award and corresponding application documents will be presented by DWV in the near future.