“For the Indian wine industry, too, collaboration with the French is multifaceted and has multiple benefits. They can take advantage of the French know-how to develop the best quality wines and they can also sell in the European markets as has been done by Grover, Sula and Indage;” says Rajendra Shende, Vice-President of FINSB. “Besides, we are at the turning point from where we can develop collaboration in organic wines for sustainable business”, he added.

It is hence surprising that no organisation has focused on bringing India and France together in the wine sector and no major B2B meet has really been organised to promote business exchange between India and France. FINE, Franco-Indian Network of Enologists, a subsidiary of FINSB, has as its objective to plug this gap of information and to create a platform to bring together in a B2B network all major players from both countries in all segments of the wine industry - producers, distributors, suppliers, equipment manufacturers, consultants, experts, researchers, students and all other players in the wine sector.

Yogen Gupta, President of FINSB, says that looking at the importance of the sector, FINSB has decided to set up a dedicated cell for the wine industry - FINE or Franco-Indian Network of Enologists. “FINE will have a wide scope of activities covering the entire gamut of the wine industry - from farm to flute/grapes to glass. It will organise regular events to promote interaction and exchange between the enologists from India and France, but also serve as a platform for anyone seeking information/technical assistance or technology transfer in this domain,” he says.

The event will last three days. The first day will be a B2B seminar organized at the renowned l’Arche de la Defense, in Paris, with a series of conferences, freewheeling discussions and will end up with a series of pure B2B meetings. The summit will focus on Maharashtra state, which is the largest producer of wine with its extensive vineyards in Nashik and Pune.

“France and India have a lot of opportunities for mutual collaboration in this booming sector and our idea behind holding the wine summit is to provide a platform for fruitful and dynamic exchanges between businesses from India and France. This will lead to a strong growth in the wine trade between India and France,’’ said Mr Pradip Panchpatil, President of the Nashik Valley Wine Producers’ Association and Vice President of Sula Wines while announcing the event at a press conference in Nashik in early April.

The following days will see the Indian delegation head towards Bordeaux for a visit of the vineyards in the French city. On the agenda will be visits to distilleries, laboratories, processing areas as well as wine tasting sessions and more B2B meetings with the principal actors of the Bordeaux wine industry. The Summit will be the first event in a series of meetings and exchanges that will bring together the Indian and French wine industries. The summit will be held every six months, alternating between India and France. The success of the event and its subsequent actions is almost certain, going by the enthusiasm displayed by the actors on both the sides to promote bilateral relations in this vital domain.

FINSB - 5 rue du commandant rivière, 75008 Paris,
Tel: 01 42 25 00 32, Email: events@mediaindia.eu

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