SHERIDAN, WYOMING - March 11, 2026 - ProWein Düsseldorf has opened the first release cycle of the ProWein Business Report 2026, positioning it as a strategic compass for wine industry stakeholders navigating a tougher and more complex market environment. Produced in cooperation with Geisenheim University for the ninth consecutive year, the report is framed as moving beyond pure market analysis toward a guidance and decision-making instrument for producers, exporters, importers, specialist retail, and food service. The latest survey, conducted in late autumn 2025, drew input from over 1,000 experts across more than 30 countries, reinforcing the report's role as a broad-based indicator of sentiment and business priorities across the value chain.
How the report is positioned in ProWein's broader strategic re-orientation
ProWein describes the Business Report as one of the most relevant international mood and situation reports for the wine industry, and says it has evolved in step with ProWein's own strategic re-orientation. The key shift described is from a "pure market analysis" to an "active guidance and decision-making tool" designed to support strategic choices in an industry in transformation.
For decision-makers, that repositioning matters because the value of an industry report is increasingly judged by how directly it supports action: what it signals about market pressure points, which success strategies appear most resilient, and how operators can prioritize commercial moves under uncertainty.
Survey design: value-chain coverage and international participation
Since 2017, ProWein and Geisenheim University have surveyed industry insiders along the complete value chain, including wine producers, exporters and importers, specialist merchants, and hospitality and food service. The 2026 edition draws on participation from over 1,000 experts from more than 30 countries, based on the latest survey in late autumn 2025.
Operationally, broad respondent coverage is relevant because it reduces the risk of a single-channel view. When the same questions are answered by supply-side producers and trade-side buyers, the resulting picture can better highlight where expectations align or diverge, which is often where strategic execution risk appears.
Strategic intent: corporate success strategies in a challenging market
The ProWein Business Report 2026 is described as focusing on corporate success strategies in an increasingly challenging market environment. The stated objective is to support decision-making rather than present statistics as an end in themselves, emphasizing reliability, orientation, and strategic perspective.
"The ProWein Business Report has served as a reliable barometer for the economic situation of the industry for years. With this year's edition we are deliberately taking it to the next level: moving away from the pure analysis towards a strategic guidance tool for an industry undergoing transformation," says Frank Schindler, Director of ProWein Düsseldorf.
Release strategy: early access for participants and exhibitors
Phase one access is described as exclusive to survey participants and all exhibitors of ProWein 2026, starting on February 6, 2026. ProWein positions this as deliberately granting early access to the market players who are actively shaping today's industry decisions.
For exhibitors and frequent buyers, this approach can be operationally valuable because it creates a shared baseline of intelligence before the fair's commercial conversations intensify. In practice, the timing can influence how companies prepare meeting agendas, refine market narratives, and align internal stakeholders on priority markets and channels.
From report to agenda: new formats intended to translate findings into action
ProWein frames the Business Report 2026 as a strategic basis for work, explicitly stating it is not intended to function as a purely statistical document. Building on the results, ProWein outlines follow-on formats and content deep-dives aimed at surfacing concrete options for action and addressing future-facing industry questions. Planned elements include:
- Themed Whitepapers focused on pivotal strategic questions, including export strategies in times of tariffs and geopolitical insecurities, plus business cases across importers, distributors, specialist retail, and food service
- Opinion Paper contributions where leading actors take positions on selected topics, add context, and provide impulses for strategic market development
- Visionary Talks, described as a further development of former Business Talks, linking analysis with perspective and aligned with ProWein's leitmotif of Shape. Elevate.
From an operator standpoint, the key is whether these formats help teams operationalize insight into execution choices, such as market focus, channel prioritization, portfolio positioning, and go-to-market messaging.
Parallel expansion: spirits survey planned for ProSpirits Business Report
In parallel with the release of the ProWein Business Report, ProWein states that the next survey round for spirits will begin. The ProSpirits Business Report is described as having debuted successfully last year and is expected to be developed further, with the goal of playing a pivotal role for the international spirits market going forward.
This parallel survey effort signals an intent to build comparable, repeatable "barometer" reporting across adjacent categories, potentially enabling a more integrated view for trade visitors and exhibitors operating across wine and spirits.