Vinexpo Daily 2018 - Review Edition

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Andreas Clark
CEO, Wine Australia
Powering the Drive to Market
Wine Australia CEO Andreas Clark – on Vinexpo Hong Kong
and the impact of the show on future wine exports
Wine Australia CEO Andreas
Clark was smiling on the last day
of Vinexpo Hong Kong… with
good reason. The show had been
a massive success for Australia’s
wine growers. We asked him how
he felt about the event.
It’s been fantastic. I have been talking to
as many of our exhibitors as possible –
they are the litmus test to me – and the
feedback they have been giving me is
great. They’ve been busy with quality
trade coming through and really strong
connections. So that all points to some
very positive commercial outcomes for
them. At the end of the day, our role
at Wine Australia is to put on a great
event, a great stand, which we think
we’ve done. It looked fantastic – a strong
presence, a strong statement… make sure
they are well looked after and get quality
customers through so they can generate
commercial leads and follow through on
them. The feedback has been extremely
positive. There has been a buzz and a
common chatter around the halls that
Australia has done particularly well this
year and really leveraged the Country of
Honour status at the show.
The Asian buyers have been able to
discover regions they didn’t know
existed as well…
Absolutely. This is the key thing for
us – these key markets to continue to
either disrupt and confuse about what
Australian wine is, or to open up new
horizons for people. The Australian
wine story is rich and it’s deep. It’s
many regions. We have the well-known
regions, such as the Barossa, Margaret
River, McLaren Vale, and the Yarra, but
we have 65 regions, with a number of
different varieties and styles of wines,
and we are continuing to evolve that
message and get that understanding
around the Australian wine story. It’s very
exciting. It’s like unpeeling the onion and
finding the new layers to what Australian
wines are all about.
Was there a particular goal of coming
to this event?
Not as such. You can never tie a
particular activity like this to any particular
commercial outcomes. These things take
time to come to fruition. The fundamental
goal of being here was to send a strong
message around the importance of this
region to Australia. We are grateful for
the opportunity to be here. We know that
no-one owes us a living. We’ve got to
continue to work hard to pursue them, so
we wanted to come here en-masse and
really have a strong showing, and we
have achieved that.
Obviously, the government has been
very supportive as well…
Indeed, we have had some additional
funding from the government, and
that has enabled us to hone in on
what we think are the two key growth
opportunities for Australian wine exports.
China is one and the US as well, and
we will be pushing hard into the US
market in coming years, too. Obviously,
additional funding enables you to do
things in a different way and to really
have an impact, and we have been able
to demonstrate that here over the past
few days.
How important has this show been for
Australia as a platform to bounce into
the next phase?
I think we will look back over the coming
few years and see this as a fundamental
opportunity to step up and to continue
to rise and to nurture the opportunity in
China. It has had a head-turning effect,
and this was what we wanted. And it’s a
bit of a watershed moment, given where
we are. It’s a strong signal of intent and
preparedness and enthusiasm to engage
with the region. I think we will look back
at Vinexpo Hong Kong and say “this was
a pivotal moment”
I THINK
WE WILL
LOOK BACK
AT VINEXPO
HONG KONG
AND SAY “THIS
WAS A PIVOTAL
MOMENT”.
14 VINEXPO DAILY / REVIEW / TUESDAY 12 TH JUNE 2018