January the 15th, 2024 – The ninth edition of WineOS, the largest and most important wine event in eastern Croatia, is now behind us.
WineOs’ move to a new space (Osijek-Baranja County’s economic centre), long standing traditions and recognisable image, resulted in them breaking new records.
WineOS managed to attract the most exhibitors to date. During the two days of the fair, January the 12th and 13th, more than 130 producers of wine, spirits, delicacies and other products and services from seven countries presented themselves at 101 exhibition stands in the main hall. Five were present in the small hall and on the fair stage.
At the fair workshops, the attendees tasted wines from three countries and learned about olive oils and French cheeses. As part of the culinary programme, three young chefs from Osijek (Hrvoje Harač, Tihomir Bježančević and Saša Ninković) cooked on stage, presenting meat and fish dishes and, for the first time, vegan snacks. In addition to them, the president of the ŠKMER association from Split, Željko Neven Bremec, also cooked again, presenting several traditional Dalmatian dishes.
“Many thanks to everyone who helped WineOS to prove that we’re all ready for new challenges ahead of us and a new era of the unfolding wine story in Osijek, Osijek-Baranja County and in Slavonia and Baranja entirely. We recorded growth in our number of exhibitors, visitors and business visitors between 10% and 15%. We aren’t only talking about our fellow citizens and other visitors, but also business partners of the exhibitors, professional and business visitors, journalists, and people from the organisation. In short, we’re talking about everyone who was part of this great story,” said the president of the Organising Committee of WineOS, Boris Ocić.
“We’re happy as we enjoyed some excellent reactions from the exhibitors and the audience. We’re also glad that we received welcome constructive criticism about what should be improved or changed by the next, jubilee edition of WineOS. The most important thing is that we already have some information about the deals concluded at the fair, and they suggest the expected growth. Thanks to everyone who participated. We’re going to do our best to make the next edition truly unforgettable”, added WineOS founder and CEO Vinko Ručević.
“Every year brings new challenges, especially when the venue changes. For us, this is the fifth location of the fair, so we were ready for stress and we expected to need to solve details at the last minute. I’m happy with the excellent reactions from we’ve had from all sides, now we’re well acquainted with the space and have a vision of how to make the jubilee WineOS even better for exhibitors and the audience. I’d like to thank everyone who helped make the ninth WineOS the best and biggest so far”, WineOS Executive Director Denis Despot commented with satisfaction.
Last but by no means least – let’s look at the numbers. The approximately 2,800 square metres of the Economic Centre used for WineOS hosted 106 exhibition spaces and stages where over 130 exhibitors and brands from Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria and Spain presented themselves.
More than 3,400 guests, invitees, business visitors, protocol representatives and journalists passed through the premises of WineOS in just two days; in total, alongside the organisers and exhibitors, almost 4,000 people passed through. Visitors used more than 3,500 glasses tasting almost 600 different wines and spirits. About 3,000 litres of water were consumed alongside a tonne of ice, and the workshop participants tasted about seventy different wines along with several types of French cheeses and various olive oils.
