Stuttgart, Germany—Wine industry suppliers exhibiting at Intervitis Interfructa, the giant wine trade show happening Germany this spring, have until Jan. 15 to apply for innovations awards presented at the event. Organizers call the exhibition outside Stuttgart the world's No. 1 international trade fair for the production of wine, fruit, fruit juice and spirits.

Innovations are part and parcel of Intervitis Interfructa 2013 because the technology trade fair that happens only every third year—April 24-27, 2013, this time—features the latest equipment, supplies and services for the international wine industry. Since so many vineyard and winery suppliers are based in Germany, Italy and France, the fair draws more exhibitors and more cutting-edge technology than any show in North America.

The German Winegrowers' Association (DWV) organizes the trade fair and the judging of innovations. Prizewinners get special exposure for their innovations in a separate area of the trade show. Exhibitors can register applications on the website. DWV awards the Intervitis Interfructa innovation prize, given once every three years, to the innovators of processes, technical products and services that have made significant progress in the wine, fruit, fruit juice and spirits industry.

An international jury of well-known representatives from academia, business and consultancy assess the new developments according to their degree of innovation, their significance and application in daily practice, their effect on the environment and energy consumption as well as their impact on the quality of the respective end product. Awarding of the gold and silver prizes takes place April 23 as part of the opening celebrations of the 61st German Winegrowers’ Congress.

In addition to the more than 600 suppliers of products and services, the program in Stuttgart includes daily machinery demonstrations, a tasting workshop with sample wines from the German academies and much more.

Accompanying conference
Under the patronage of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), the DWV, in cooperation with research institutes and academies as well as national and international winegrowing organizations, will host the viticulture congress from April 23-27. The internationally focused event takes place together with Intervitis Interfructa every three years in Europe’s state-of-the-art trade fair center directly at Stuttgart Airport and will be attended by speakers from all over the world.

Topics up for discussion include wine marketing, the latest developments concerning winegrowing technology and enology, sustainable production, ecology, wine and architecture, tourism and EU wine market policies. There will be special conferences focusing on the areas of fruit juices and distilleries.
 
The full-day events at the congress are divided into morning and afternoon sessions. Target groups include management figures from the wine industry, research, teaching, consultation and the supplier industry. The focus here is on an intensive, future-oriented exchange of information between all those involved.

All the conference sessions during the 61st German Winegrowers Congress will have simultaneous German/English interpreting and will also be of interest to visitors from abroad. Further information is available online at dwv-online.de/kongress.

Find details about Intervitis Interfructa 2013 at intervitis-interfructa.de.