CREWAS: €3M in European funding to promote PDO wines and Catalan cured meats in Asia

Prodeca has presented to companies in the Catalan agri-food sector the European CREWAS project, an initiative backed by 3 million euros of European funding that will boost the promotion of wines with designation of origin and Catalan cured meats in the markets of China, South Korea and Japan over the next three years, the latter currently subject to health restrictions arising from African Swine Fever. The information session set out the programme's objectives, the schedule of activities and the participation opportunities for companies in both sectors.

The session brought together companies from the wine and meat sectors interested in learning about the development of the CREWAS project, an initiative led by Prodeca and co-financed by the European Union whose purpose is to increase awareness, visibility and demand for wines with designation of origin and Catalan cured meats in three of the main Asian markets: China, South Korea and Japan. The latter market is currently subject to restrictions arising from African Swine Fever as regards meat products, although it remains a priority market within the programme.

With a budget of 3 million euros, CREWAS will run from May 2026 to April 2029 under the slogan The Creative Revolution: European Wines and Charcuterie, a campaign that aims to present wines with PDO and Catalan cured meats as the expression of a contemporary, authentic and creative gastronomy in markets with high growth potential, where consumers are showing growing interest in high-quality European foods with certified origin, traceability and sustainability credentials.

A promotion programme with activities over three years

The project will develop a strategy of promotion aimed at both trade professionals and end consumers with the aim of increasing awareness of Catalan products and generating new business opportunities for the participating companies.

Planned activities include trade promotions in retail outlets and on e-commerce platforms, masterclasses and professional tastings for importers, distributors, the HORECA channel and opinion leaders, as well as gastronomic weeks in restaurants and digital communication and awareness campaigns.

«Wines with PDO and Catalan cured meats have the attributes that many international markets are looking for today: quality, origin, authenticity and traceability. The challenge is turning those values into commercial opportunities. Securing this European funding allows us to increase the sector's international promotion capacity and offer companies a tool they could hardly deploy on their own», said the director of Prodeca, Dèlia Perpiñà.

The presentation also unveiled the schedule of activities planned for the second half of 2026. The first activities will begin this autumn in China, with masterclasses and retail and e-commerce promotions, and in South Korea, with restaurant promotions.

As for Japan, the programme maintains the planned schedule with the promotion of Catalan PDO wines.Activities involving cured meats will be rolled out as market access conditions recover following the health situation.

Catalan companies will be able to join the various activities progressively through the calls that Prodeca will publish over the three years of the project.Taking part will allow them to be part of a European promotion campaign, increase their international visibility, generate qualified business contacts and strengthen the positioning of their products in strategic Asian markets.

Strategic selection of priority Asian markets

The campaign will focus on Japan, China and South Korea, three markets with strong purchasing power, an expanding middle class and growing demand for quality European products. These regions were chosen following a detailed economic and logistical analysis identifying them as key to consolidating European wines and cured meats with geographical indication in non-EU markets.

In Japan, activity will focus on the metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, which account for more than half of national GDP and are the main centres for the consumption, distribution and import of food and drink. Japan's inclusion in the programme reflects its high medium- and long-term potential, even though activities involving meat products are temporarily subject to the health restrictions in force. 

In China, the campaign will target the major cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen — which concentrate the highest purchasing power, an advanced logistics network and a base of professional consumers highly receptive to European products. 

In South Korea, attention will focus on the Seoul metropolitan area and the port city of Busan, which together account for almost half the country's population and are the main commercial, logistics and distribution hubs for imported food. This territorial selection aims to ensure maximum efficiency and impact of the promotional activities, drawing on the economic potential, consumer density and commercial infrastructure of these regions to strengthen the presence of quality European products in the Asian market.