Change your Christmas stress to perfect Christmas gifts for your family and colleagues. How? Only few steps to make. Come to visit Vyno klubas shops or website or call and come for the live chat. Vyno klubas wine and food experts will help you to find the best personnal match: wine + food (sweet and not so sweet) = careful selection to everyone. Trust the team who have been working with passion for quality for 19 years.
Every third Thursday of November, the Beaujolais Nouveau is celebrated.
Beaujolais Nouveau is a young wine called “primeur”, it comes from grapes harvested during the year. With a beautiful red colour, quite clear, the primeur is distinguished by aromas known as “amylic”. In France, on the occasion of Beaujolais Nouveau, people get together to taste the wine and to spend time together.
This has been the case since 1985. But the history of this festival is much older. It began in 1951, with the evolution of the regulations on the sale of wines.
Mainly, Beaujolais is produced in the Beaujolais vineyards, north of Lyon and south of Macon, and must be made from the Gamay Noir grape. Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau cover nearly 8,000 hectares of vines. The Beaujolais appellation includes 96 communes in the southern and eastern part of the vineyard. Established on clay-limestone and granite soils, more than 50% of the Beaujolais Nouveau red and rosé wines are marketed. The Beaujolais-Villages are located in 38 communes, with granite soils and steep hillsides. They represent 40% of the wines sold as “Nouveau”, red and rosé. The volumes put on the market amount to more than 160,000 hectolitres, i.e. more than 20 million bottles each year.
Beaujolais Nouveau in figures
Nearly 87,000 hectolitres (hl) of Beaujolais Nouveau were sold in France in 2019, or 11.6 million bottles. In total, 50,000 hl were sold in supermarkets, i.e. nearly 7 million bottles. Nearly 37,000 hl were sold in traditional channels, restaurants and wine shops.
700 winegrowers
20 million bottles produced
170,000 hectolitres consumed worldwide. Japan alone consumes 37,000 hl
Lithuania focuses on innovative sectors, technology and science. The country is also at the forefront of the life sciences sector, that is growing in international attention.
The reasons for this success are based on 400 millions euros in modern research infrastructure and by the measures Lithuania has put in place to attract start-ups. In addition, the city’s Industrial Innovation Park is an internationally renowned centre for research and development in the life sciences. Sixteen companies are already set up there and another twenty or so are expected, the majority of which are specialised in the life sciences. Lithuania can also count on a large scientific community of 1,500 students and scientists to carry out high-tech projects in the sector. A dedicated incubator for life science companies will also be completed by 2022, providing access to modern molecular biotechnology and bioinformatics laboratories. The excellence of the teaching in Lithuania is also one of the reasons for this success. Today, Lithuania has 400 companies in the life sciences sector. Moreover, the Life Science Centre of Vilnius University (LSCVU) is very active. Gintaras Valinčius, the director of the LSCVU, notes that for the past 5 years Lithuania has been steadily gaining ground in the genomic fields. Further proof of the Lithuanian success: in September 2020, the Vilnius Life Science Centre signed a partnership with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, one of the world’s leading research center.
Industrial Innovation Park in Vilnius.
In 2020, despite the situation, exports related to life sciences have exploded. Between 2015 and 2020, exports of innovations in this sector have increased by a factor of 2.7 (from €229 million to €627 million) on average. This success is also visible abroad, as life science companies work mainly with foreign companies and export 95% of their production. Lithuania has adapted to the situation by entering global supply chains and establishing itself in new markets. To illustrate, the Lithuanian company Teltonika is one of the world leaders in Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, exporting to about 150 countries. Its new prototype is an artificial lung ventilator. Our member SigFox, the first global 0g network, is already established in Lithuania and has been working on the implementation of the IoT network!
With its innovation and R&D driven economy, Lithuania is proving to the world that it has the potential to become a key player in the future ”Europe of Health”. Its main assets: highly qualified professionals such as Professor Vladas Algirdas Bumelis, who has brought 32 patents to the country, companies ready to move forward, and a very strong capacity to adapt. For example, Lithuania has taken advantage of the health situation to propose trials for drugs against COVID 19. The Lithuanian company Imunodiagnostika is developing DNA chips for various microbiological diagnostics.
Credit Photo: Guillaume Périgois.
With around 600 companies investing in the life sciences, as well as a dozen bio-science start-ups setting up every year, Lithuania is set to become a key partner for the EU, and has the ambition to become one of the leading countries in the Union by 2030. Germany seems very interested in cooperating with Lithuania. Lithuanian and German researchers are already involved in 50 joint projects funded by the European Union.
The last proof of the Lithuanian success, which suggests a bright future for the country: from 21 to 24 September 2021, one of the largest science forums in Lithuania was held, the Life Science Baltic, with Dr Richard Henderson as guest of honour!
Last week, on November 12th, members of the French-Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce have met the Minister of Energy, Mr Dainius Kreivys.
Among the topics discussed were the importance of transition to the renewable energy-based economy, the fluctuations of the energy prices, the development of electromobility grid and others.
Chamber’s long year member-sponsor IKI/Palink challenge everyone to convert steps into discounts!
Challenge for everyone
IKI / Palink and the mobile app #walk15, created by Lithuanian startup, invites to increase the physical activity. By walking, it lets to collect steps in the #walk15 steps’ wallet and exchange them for discounts at IKI’s and partners’ stores! The app allows you to count the steps, participate in various challenges and use other app’s features which for motivation
Challenge for companies
With the #walk15 app it is also possible to organize the steps challenges for companies! It is a great way to engage with your team, to prosper the values of healthiness, and to build a sense of team spirit in an innovative and safe way. More than 500 companies are estimated to participate in this challenge and they have already walked around the Earth 625 times!
The team of the #walk15 app was recognized as a winner at the annual European Young Innovators 2021 awards, that acknowledge the aims to foster social sustainable impact, pan-European connections, and wider opportunities for young digital entrepreneurs in Europe.
Created 1992, today Palink is one of the largest employers, with more than 200 stores in Lithuania. Since the first IKI store, it was immediately successful due to its exceptional range and high-quality products. Palink is a team of professionals, striving for customers to return to our stores every day, where they would not only be pleasantly served, but also buy the highest quality goods at the best price.
At IKI stores you can find a variety of French products, marked by ‘Nos Régions ont du Talent’, ‘Bio Village’ and other brands.