(TheDrinksBusiness) - Germany’s ProWein is once again expanding into new halls, and accompanying the size upgrade will be a plethora of new business features.

LAST YEAR’S preview began with the news that ProWein was expanding into new halls following successive years of growth. The same is true again this time around as the show’s organisers have announced that halls 1 and 2 have been opened up to cater for the increase in exhibitor numbers.

Some 4,500 exhibitors from 50 countries will now be exhibiting – up from 3,981 producers from 47 countries last year. Messe Düsseldorf’s executive director, Michael Degen, explains that nearly all the countries exhibiting wished to increase their presence.

“There was a major demand for space from all regions and nations. We opened Halls 1 and 2, so we had to work on the structure. We moved a lot of exhibitors out of Hall 6 where Germany now is.” Interestingly Degen adds that some of the biggest requests for increased space came from the Southern European producers, Spain, Greece and Italy – “despite their (economic) problems”.