FROM PARIS TO TOKYO, THE AREA39 MODEL AT THE TOP OF WORLD FAIRS

"As a strategic partner for the internationalization of Italian wine, we create integrated platforms that transcend the simple booth format."

Companies, consortia, and institutions. At the Porte de Versailles in Paris, the venue for the recent Wine Paris, the Italian wine industry was led by Area39, a business unit of Gate39, the company founded in 2021 as a parent company and now a unified project addressing the challenges of subsidized financing, innovation, and internationalization, with a turnover expected to reach €8.5 million in 2025. At the Paris international fair, Area39, a company focused on trade fairs, hosted the largest single-management space for Italian-made products: a presence involving over 160 businesses, establishing itself as an integrated business hub.

"The spaces at Wine Paris were designed as high-intensity B2B relational platforms, going beyond the idea of a simple stand, with personalized areas and dedicated lounges: the result we bring home is confirmation of the trust placed in us by the wine industry of various Italian regions," said Andrea Brachino , CEO of Gate39, which has its registered office in Milan and two secondary offices in Padua and Montalcino.

The experience at the Porte de Versailles, among the spaces designed and built by Area39, arose from the need for private businesses, consortia, local organizations, and regional institutions to have a coordinated platform based on the concepts of multi-presence and multi-promotion. "We divided the hub into four strategic macro-areas ," explains Brachino, " so that organizations like the Consorzio Italia del Vino could deploy their players, or organic districts could communicate with each other and with the public at the same time." The result was the largest Italian space under a single organizational direction and the confirmation of Area39's role as a strategic partner for the internationalization of Italian wine.

The Wine Paris hub marks a further step for Gate39 and Area39, the unit created in 2024 and which reached €2 million in revenue last year. The company states that "after years of investment, we are seeing businesses' confidence in our trade show model." This model will continue to tour the world in the coming months. In March, Area39 will be exhibiting at Foodex , Japan's most important agri-food trade show, after which it will be at ProWein in Düsseldorf, before moving on to London (Real Italian Wine & Food), Hong Kong (Vinexpo Asia), and India, Sao Paulo, and Shanghai.