Prominent politicians underline the importance of the industry for Germany and Europe: EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger (CDU) and German Federal Minister of Economics Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) will attend the trade fair to obtain information on innovations and trends. In the trade fair exhibition area and during the congresses, the more than 25.000 expected visitors will learn about the trends in the industry - and therefore lay the foundations for their future success.
New in 2016: the event will feature an extended concept. In addition to technology for wine and juice, the industry meeting point will also showcase for the first time innovations for cultivating and harvesting special crops. "INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA HORTITECHNICA 2016 now also covers the new area of special crops whose contents are the responsibility of the German Agricultural Society (DLG). We are delighted with this cooperation. The DLG has provided fresh impetus for the event and therefore offers all visitors value-added," said Dr. Rudolf Nickenig, General Secretary of the German Winegrowers' Association. Philipp Schulze Esking, Chairman and Vice President of the Exhibitions Department of the German Agricultural Society, added: "Farmers and winegrowers are now faced with similar challenges. It was therefore a logical step to combine both areas within the framework of the trade fair in order to promote dialogue and jointly tackle future challenges."
The trade fair will be officially opened by a prominent guest: Günther Oettinger (CDU), EU Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, will give the official opening speech for the event at 17.30 on 27 November During his tour of the trade fair on Monday, 28 November, Sigmar Gabriel (SPD), German Federal Minister of Economics, will find out about new technology and digitalisation in the cultivation and harvesting of grapes and special crops.
"Experience technology live" – drones and self-driving tractors
Visitors will be able to watch live machine demonstrations every day under the motto "Experience technology live" in the hall specially reserved for this purpose (Hall 7). The programme will be supplemented by two other special shows in the L-Bank Forum (Hall 1); experts will provide information on the use of drones and robotics in the cultivation of grapes and special crops. In the special show entitled "Italians take the field - Technology and Innovation in Horticulture", visitors to the trade fair will also obtain all the relevant information about the complete salad growing process - from sowing through to harvesting. This special show is being organised by the DLG in cooperation with DLG Italia from this year's partner country.
"Taste the technology" - selection of 280 test wines
In the tasting zone containing test wines, interested visitors to the trade fair will have the opportunity to gain a sensory impression of the latest process techniques in winegrowing and enology. The teaching and research institutes in the German winegrowing regions, the Union of German Enologists and the Julius Kühn Institute opened their test wine cellars for this purpose and will present wines from their current tests relating to viticultural and enological questions at INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA HORTITECHNICA. After paying an admission fee of €10.00, visitors will be able to freely choose samples from 280 test wines. A catalogue numbering more than 100 pages contains information and explanations relating to the individual test questions and results. A guided tasting session will also be staged twice a day (limited amount of space) during which experts from the areas of winegrowing and enology will present, discuss and answers questions concerning wines from specific tests.
Young Professionals' Day
Young winegrowers, young farmers, students, apprentices and the young at heart will be able to obtain information on industry trends and the future of their occupational image on 29 November. "Everything must go and must be new or preserve tradition?" is the title of this year's Young Winegrowers' Congress. Participants in this event will learn how they can adapt to changed general conditions due to climate change and globalisation. The young generation will benefit here from the experience and know-how of renowned speakers: experts such as the graduate meteorologist and TV presenter Sven Plöger or Prof. Dr. Marc Dressler from the Neustadt Wine Campus will provide an in-depth insight into the opportunities and challenges for the industry. A large number of interesting talks will also be held during the special DLG show. During her talk entitled "Leading and motivating employees: 'How do I say it to my employees'" at 11.00 on 29 November, the social pedagogue Helma Ostermayer will explain what characteristics are important for superiors In "I did it my way – Young Professionals report“ starting at 14.00, young professionals will be able to profit from other people's experiences.
From 18.00 onwards like-minded people, future business associates and friends will gather together at the Young Professionals' Party. Food trucks will provide culinary highlights while young winegrowers from the Fellbach Young Farmers' Group will present their wines from the region.
62nd German Winegrowers' Congress
"Shaping an authentic and innovative future - mastering climate change and globalisation" is the leitmotif of the 62nd German Winegrowers' Congress which is being organised by the German Winegrowers' Association (DWV). In six talk series interested visitors will find out everything there is to know about the latest developments from science and practice. The Congress will feature first-class speakers such as the trend researcher Prof. Peter Wippermann who will give a talk entitled "Wineries turning into service providers and profit centres". Prof. Dr. Monika Christmann, President of the International Office of Vine and Wine (OIV), will talk about the "Future challenges for enology".
Special DLG show "Smart Horticulture"
The special DLG show "Smart Horticulture" will show how technology can make it easier to cultivate and harvest special crops. It will focus on the topics of irrigation, sensors and sprayer cleaning. It will be worthwhile, for example, to attend the talk entitled "Smart horticulture: the networked strawberry field" at 14.00 on 28 November.
Day of the Distillers
The Day of the Distillers will take place from 10.00 to midday on 27 November. Visitors will have free admission to the talk entitled "Future prospects for fruit distilleries after the expiration of the spirits monopoly in 2017 – report on the new Alcohol Excise Tax Act and the new Ordinance on Alcohol“. Prior registration is not required.
First-rate technology
The winners of the Innovation Award, which will be presented during the trade fair, have already been chosen: an international jury has honoured the best new and further developments which are contributing towards advances in technology for wine, juice and special crops. Carl Hoffmann Landmaschinen from Piesport an der Mosel took gold in the category "Cultivation and Harvesting Technology" for the new development of a steep slope harvester. The second gold medal goes to the Italian company TMCI Padovan for the development of a high-performance crossflow filter. The winners will be presented with their prizes on 27 November. This will be followed on 29 November by the presentation of the 2016 Wine Architecture Prize. the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Viticulture, the German Winegrowers' Association and the Rhineland-Palatinate Chamber of Architects are honouring special projects in the areas of complete systems, enology and wineries.
Partner country: Italy
The official partner country of INTERVITIS INTERFRUCTA HORTITECHNICA is Italy, the most important exhibitor country after Germany. With this partnership the German Winegrowers' Association and Confagricoltura want to highlight the tried-and-tested and future-oriented cooperation between the two countries in the area of technology for wine, juice and special crops. Common objectives, for example in European wine policy and agricultural policy, will also be discussed during the 62nd German Winegrowers' Congress.
