Jerez de la Frontera, 19 February 2019. Wine specialist and Technical Director of the Brazilian importer Zahil based in Sao Paulo, Bernardo Pinto, is the winner of the II Competition for the Most Innovative Business Initiative which is organised by the Chamber of Commerce of Jerez and the Confederation of Business in the Province of Cádiz relating to the celebration of the fifth edition of International Sherry Week.
In the last edition, the winning activity, under the title of “Sherry Tables” consisted of the organisation of different gastronomic events in different regions of China, showcasing the great diversity of Chinese cuisine and creating a fascinating challenge to pair it with Sherry. By contrast, Bernardo Pinto was not responsible for one event in particular but instead, using networking, he managed to involve hundreds of wine professionals; restaurateurs, educators, sommeliers, oenologists and even the Spanish Consulate in Brazil in 109 top level events in the fifth largest country in the world.
Tastings, pairing dinners, cocktail workshops, lectures on the production of Sherry, tastings of Sherry paired with Brazil´s top national dish, feijoada, and so on up to more than a hundred activities to demonstrate that this wine can pair beautifully with all types of gastronomy from around the world, be it cheese, fish, meat, shellfish, stews or desserts.
In this way Bernardo Pinto, Sherry Educator and Educator for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, actively contributed to the awareness of and promotion of Sherry and Manzanilla wines in the Brazilian market in 2018 increasing the number of events taking place by 220% compared to 2017. This achievement was also reflected in the social networks receiving more than 2,000 likes in just one and reaching more than a million people.
The decisive criteria in deciding the winner of the prize, awarded by a jury consisting of representatives of the Chamber of Commerce of Jerez, Confederation of Business in the Province of Cádiz and the Consejo Regulador, was the work put in by the Technical Director of the Brazilian importer Zahil in developing networking skills as a key tool. This proactive activity established social links and profesional relationships in order to promote internationality and bring it to all corners of Brazil, tripling the media presence of events in this South American nation during Sherry Week last October.
The purpose of the competition is to stimulate knowledge and understanding of the characteristics of the wines of the Denominaciónes de Origen Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda and promote their consumption using original and innovative business solutions. Thus any company which organises an event during International Sherry Week and registers it on the website sherryweek.wine has a chance of winning this prize. It is worth remembering that there were more than 2,500 events celebrated in over 30 different countries.
This prize clearly demonstrates the considerable growth in business generated by the organisation of these events, such that companies which have participated in previous years have experienced a growth in sales of Sherry of up to 500% during Sherry Week.
About International Sherry Week
Since its fourth edition International Sherry Week, without doubt the largest global festival dedicated to Sherry, has consolidated itself as one of the most important annual events in the world of wine with thousands of events in a multitude of countries from Norway to Brazil and from Taiwan to Colombia.
This year the event has continued to grow exponentially: the number of events has increased by 25% for the third year running. Thanks to the activity in social media with the hashtag #sherryweek, last minute events which were too late to be registered raised the total number of events to 3,000.
Social Networks
During the week of 8 – 14 October 2018, Sherry once again became the focus of worldwide attention; news about the event generated more than 20,000 posts and almost 50 million potential hits on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (source: Tweetbinder). Across the social networks events were celebrated and shared all over the world offering lovers of wine and gastronomy a huge measure of passion inspiration and ideas for serving and enjoying Sherry.
A global festival: 30 countries in 5 continents
Over 2,500 International Sherry Week events took place in 2018 in 30 foreign countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Holland, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States. This year Kazhakstan and Romania participated for the first time.
