Post #8: Our Winefest Experience

This was the first year we attended Winefest as a vendor and it’s the first large event we have taken part in since launching our wine label.

We had a great time at the event but we wanted to complete a post event analysis while it was fresh in our minds to determine if we felt it was successful and to identify areas we can improve in. Here’s our thoughts on Winefest 2023.

Event Details

Winefest is held in Calgary and Edmonton annually. It features wine exclusively along with food and other exhibitors. Winefest is a great event for people to try different wines from around the world and experience different varietals.

The event is open to the public from 7pm-10pm on Friday, and from 2pm-5pm and from 7pm-10pm on Saturday. There is also a private industry and trade session on Friday from 2pm-5pm where hotel, restaurant, and liquor store personnel attend.

Our Objectives

Our primary objectives for participating in Winefest were to gain market exposure, connect with potential stores and restaurants, and meet future customers. Since we work full time and this is our passion project on the side, it can be difficult for us to make new connections.

The Investment

Winefest was a significant investment for us and we discussed at length participating in it. The major costs and investments for us were:

• Expenses:

  • Cost of the booth

  • Wine samples

  • Marketing materials

• Investment of time

  • 10 hours over 4 days for both of us

  • Travel time to Edmonton

  • Time off work in Calgary and Edmonton

By the numbers

Between 8 sessions in two cities we sampled:

• 95 bottles of wine

• Approximately 2,280 samples handed out

• 41 bottles sampled in Calgary and 54 bottles sampled in Edmonton

• 53% white wine and 47% red wine

• Most popular varietal sampled was our Riesling (26 bottles)

Takeaways

We met over 900 people in Calgary and Edmonton and made a number of new restaurant and liquor store contacts. The staff at Winefest were incredible to work with and answered all of our questions as we navigated our first big event.

It’s still too early to know the full impact the event will have had, but so far we are in 4 additional stores and in two new cities - hello Spruce Grove and Wainwright folks! The next few months will give us a better idea of what to expect if we participate next year.

We had a great experience and it was wonderful to meet so many new people and have the opportunity to share our story. If you didn’t get the chance to attend this year make sure to mark your calendars for next year.

If you run a small business, do you do a post event analysis? Let us know below!