Italian Wine Trade Fair Opens in London

LONDON — A new Italian wine and food trade event will open at ExCeL London on Sunday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that organizers say is meant to signal a shift in how producers and buyers meet, taste and do business.

Real Italian Wine & Food Experience London 2026 is being presented as a B2B platform built around pre-scheduled meetings, curated tastings and digital matchmaking rather than the traditional booth-heavy format of a trade fair. Organizers say the goal is to make sourcing faster and more targeted for international buyers while giving Italian producers a more direct route into export markets.

The London edition will bring together about 200 wineries and 50 Italian food producers, according to the organizers. The lineup includes large brands as well as smaller and mid-sized companies, many of them focused on sustainability. Among them are producers selected by Slow Wine Fair, the Bologna-based event organized by BolognaFiere on an idea from Slow Food.

The event also includes a Blind Tasting Area and a Data Hub, tools that organizers say are designed to turn tasting sessions into market intelligence in real time. Buyers will be able to review producers in advance through a digital platform, filter selections and plan meetings before arriving on site.

The opening ceremony is expected to draw senior Italian officials and business leaders, including representatives from BolognaFiere, the Italian diplomatic network in Britain and Francesco Lollobrigida, Italy’s agriculture minister. Matteo Zoppas, president of ICE, the Italian Trade Agency, said in a statement that wine plays a strategic role in the “Made in Italy” agri-food sector and that the agency supports major international initiatives in key export markets.

Gianpiero Calzolari, president of BolognaFiere, said the project was designed as “an advanced business platform” aimed at creating high-value connections and opening access to new markets for Italian producers. He said London was the first stop in a broader international strategy that will continue later this year in Ho Chi Minh City and Mexico City.

The ceremony is scheduled for late Sunday morning, a timing organizers say is intended to fit trade traffic and allow buyers to move directly from the opening into tastings and meetings. The program will include short remarks, a formal ribbon cutting, national anthems and a media photo opportunity.

For Italy’s wine sector, which ICE said accounts for about €7.8 billion in global exports, the London event is being framed as both a commercial showcase and an exercise in economic diplomacy. Organizers say they want the format to create continuity across markets rather than isolate each event as a one-off fair.

United Experience, the company behind the project with BolognaFiere, describes itself as an international events and communications firm with offices in the United States and Italy.