A consortium of leading wine associations and companies in Europe coordinated by European Wine Committee (CEEV) and the main wine companies in China, members of the Chinese Alcohol Drinks Association (CADA), have launched the effective implementation of an unprecedented and comprehensive business-to-business cooperation that will be developed over the next two years.
Qualified young winemakers from some of the major wine companies in China (COFCO Wines and Spirits co. Ltd., CHANGYU Brandy Company and DYNASTY Fine Wines Group) have successfully finalised a 2 months internship hosted by top wineries among leading European wine companies. The hosting companies and their respective interns have got the opportunity of exchanging best practices about the management know-how related to key winegrowing and winemaking operations such as harvesting, fermentation and wine cellar management.
The quality of these internships has been successfully evaluated by the participants themselves, and considered as a useful experience for building further technical assistance and cooperation activities. The majority of the hosting companies have given the highest score to the good integration of interns into the workplace environment, the specific job assignment performances by the interns, and the enriching social and cultural experience. The interns have acknowledged that the internships have met their expectations and have particularly appreciated the development of good working relationships with their co-workers. The interns and hosting companies have all concluded that they recommend this activity.
These internships are part of a comprehensive program of technical and institutional activities agreed in a Memorandum of Understanding signed on March 2014 betweenCEEV and CADA in the framework of a fruitful B2B dialogue by both parties. The programme, that will be implemented over the two coming years, is aimed at fuelling the possibilities for business cooperation between the European and Chinese wine sectors, improving the mutual knowledge of the potential offered by the two markets and boosting international cooperation. By virtue of this programme
- The EU industry will facilitate technical assistance to professionals from Chinese wine companies in areas such as of winegrowing, winemaking and quality controls, marketing approaches, wine tastings, and GIs protection systems, provided through activities such as hosting study visits in Europe, seminars, and other training and internship activities;
- The Chinese industry will assist the EU industry to organize EU wine tastings in China, and to improve the wine knowledge among the Chinese consumers, and promote the appreciation of wines and its culture building on the values of moderate and responsible consumption;
- Both parties will set up permanent information mechanism and communication exchanges, monitor the implementation of the cooperation, and collaborate at international level on advocacy activities aimed at improving market access conditions in third countries.
The implementation of this programme represents a unique opportunity for companies in the EU wine value chain to initiate or develop further business with key companies in the Chinese wine sector in the different areas for technical cooperation. Wine companies, associations and other relevant stakeholders in the wine value chain willing to explore possibilities for participating in the implementation of this programme are invited to contact the CEEV secretariat.
For further details, please contact Ms Bethléem Dubois.
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About the EU-China Wine Cooperation project
The European consortium is composed by the 12 leading European wine companies and professional organizations CEEV (coordinator) ACIBEV, AEVP, ADEPTA, FEVS, FEDERVINI, UNIONE ITALIANA VINI, Codorniu, Felix Solis Avantis SA, Gonzalez Byass, Moët Hennessy, Pernod Ricard Winemakers, Bodegas Miguel Torres.
The hosting European companies were:
- CODORNIU, BODEGAS MIGUEL TORRES, and BODEGAS GONZALEZ BYASS in Spain with the collaboration of the FEDERACION ESPANOLA DEL VINO.
- MARCHESE DE FRESCOBALDI, GRUPPO CEVICO SOC. COOP. AGRICOLA in Italy, with the collaboration of UNIONE ITALIANA VINI.
Note to Editors
Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV) represents the wine companies in the industry and trade in the European Union: still wines, sparkling wines, liqueur wines, aromatised wines and other vine products. It brings together 26 national organisations. With more than 7.000 companies, mainly SMEs, and more than 200.000 direct jobs in the EU, its members produce and market the vast majority of quality European wines, with and without a geographical indication, and account for over 90% of European wine exports. With around 8,8 billion € worth of exports every year, the wine sector makes a contribution of over 6 billion € to the EU trade balance.
Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV) represents the wine companies in the industry and trade in the European Union: still wines, sparkling wines, liqueur wines, aromatised wines and other vine products. It brings together 26 national organisations. With more than 7.000 companies, mainly SMEs, and more than 200.000 direct jobs in the EU, its members produce and market the vast majority of quality European wines, with and without a geographical indication, and account for over 90% of European wine exports. With around 8,8 billion € worth of exports every year, the wine sector makes a contribution of over 6 billion € to the EU trade balance.
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