Increased Sales for Greek Wines in Japan

Enterprise Greece has completed the third cycle of its promotional activities for Greek wines in Japan.

Enterprise Greece initiated a coordinated strategy in 2015 for the promotion of Greek wines in Japan. The program has included a PR campaign aimed at the wine industry media, organized visits by Japanese journalists to Greek vineyards, and inviting importers to the Oinorama exhibition in Athens for business meetings with Greek winemakers. In Tokyo and Osaka, Enterprise Greece organized special wine tastings and training sessions for wine and hospitality professionals, as well as master class seminars by Konstantinos Lazarakis MW.

For oinophile consumers, gastronomic evenings with Greek wine were organized in Tokyo and Kyoto. In parallel with these initiatives, Greece participated for the first time in the Vinexpo Tokyo wine exhibition, showcasing Greek wines in an impressive stand that attracted the attention of visitors with its wide variety of high quality wines.

The entire program was supported by the Embassy of Greece in Tokyo and by specialized public relations companies in Japan and Greece.

The coordinated strategy is now showing results in a demanding and competitive Japanese market, with the number of Japanese companies importing Greek wines rising from 3 in 2013 to 8 in 2016, and exports reaching €482,000 in 2016 (from €158,000 in 2013). In the first four months of 2017, exports rose a further 66%, which suggests exports will surpass €1,000,000 in 2018. Significantly, the Greek wines exported to Japan are in the mid- to upper price range categories.

The promotional program in Japan is funded by the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food, within the framework of the Common Market Organization for wine, and Enterprise Greece. The program will continue in 2018 with the aim to increase the recognition of Greek labels and achieve the export target of €1,000,000 by the end of 2018.