The rapid development of imported wines

In recent years, as an important member of the Chinese wine market, the development of imported wine can be described by the word “rapid”. In 2008, domestic wines accounted for more than 90% of the domestic market share, and now, imported wines have seized more than 25% of the market share, and this number is still increasing. According to survey data released by Analysys International, in 2011, the domestic wine market was about 50 billion yuan, of which imported wines accounted for about 20%. It is estimated that by 2015, the Chinese wine market will reach 100 billion yuan. By then, imported wine will account for more than 40% of the entire market.

The White Paper on China's Wine Market (2011-2012) pointed out that in 2011, the Chinese consumed a total of 1.9 billion bottles of wine, which has surpassed that of the United Kingdom and became the world’s fifth-largest wine consumer, further demonstrating that the consumption potential of the Chinese wine market is gradually being released. . Prior to this, the report of the International Wine and Spirits Research Organization stated that by 2013, Chinese consumers would consume 1.26 billion bottles of wine, an increase of 32% compared with 2009.

In 2012, it was a very uncomfortable year for the Chinese liquor industry. In 2013, what kind of changes will happen in the imported wine market?

Consumerism is more rational. All along, Chinese consumers always hold the “expensive is good” mentality because of the perception of imported wines. The price bubble of high-end imported wines is getting bigger and bigger, and many speculators take the opportunity to scramble. High-end imported wine. In 2004, Lafite started selling more than 200 pounds/box. By 2009, Raffia had sold 1800 pounds/carton. What's even more frantic is that the year 2000 Rafi, which was hoarded by a dealer, soared from 8,600 pounds/carton in 2009 to almost 20,000 pounds/box at the end of 2010. After reaching a historical high, Lafite's price began to stagnate, and then entered the down channel, and some products had fallen more than 50%.

The ups and downs of prices indicate a turbulent flow. By the end of 2011, Lafite’s bubble burst, and dealers and consumers were only afraid of Rafi.

Industry insiders believe that Lafite is operating in China as a luxury brand. Its price does not fully reflect quality and its price/performance ratio is not high. Therefore, with the bursting of the price bubble, the consumption habits of the people also let the Lafite bubble hurry. , go and hurry."

This crazy irrational consumption gradually experienced a rationality after experiencing the market's baptism, especially after the imported wine merchants promoted the low-end imported wines to the public. Consumers no longer blindly pursue high-end imported wines, but according to their actual conditions. Buy imported wine, pay more attention to cost-effective, is straddling the "read packaging judgment grade" stage.

Chen Bolong, deputy director of China Economic and Trade Promotion Association and deputy director of the Bureau of China Native Animals Import and Export Chamber of Commerce, said: "The imported wine market is returning to rationality." Also, as Christina Luton said, Chinese consumers increasingly understand Wine tasting. According to customs statistics, in 2012, China's cumulative import of wine was 430,000 kiloliters, an increase of 8.9% over the previous year (the same below); value was 2.57 billion U.S. dollars, up 18.1%; the average import price was 6 U.S. dollars per liter, up 8.5%. At the same time, in 2012, the number of imported wine traders in China has increased dramatically from 800 to 4,000. According to calculations, the current market profit margins for high-end imported wines in China are as high as 30% to 50%, while those for domestic wines, which are mainly in the low-end market, are only around 11%. Driven by profits, many wine merchants at home and abroad have invested in imported wine sales.

The enthusiasm of the imported wine market further promoted wine education for domestic consumers. The wine consumption atmosphere was more intense, which stimulated the consumption of imported wines. Imported wines also moved from the business occasions such as banquets to the dining tables of the people.

Market Structure Constantly Optimized According to the data from the Chinese market and media research, from 2009 to 2011, the first-tier cities were the main market for wine consumption, and the rate of drinking showed a rapid growth trend. In second and third-tier cities, the drinking rate of wine has been growing relatively slowly in recent years. This shows that consumers in the first-tier cities have gradually cultivated the habit of drinking wine, wine is being integrated into the lives of consumers in first-tier cities, while wine consumption in second and third-tier cities is still turbulent, and the market is still immature.

According to analysis by industry insiders, small and medium-sized cities will become the “rising stars” of the wine market in the future. “There are market gaps in the second and third tier cities. At the same time, wine development is advancing from the developed coastal areas to the inland areas. The two are just touching together, and the inland areas just have this. Consumer demand."

It is expected that the consumption of imported wines in the second and third tier cities will increase significantly, becoming a new round of consumption growth for domestic wines.

Middle and low-end products will be strengthened with the bursting of high-end imported wine price bubbles and the return of rational consumption. Cheap imported wines will gradually be put on the table of the public, and the middle and low-end product markets will be gradually strengthened. Long Heng, director of Renzhuang Cellar Management (China) Co., Ltd. Ren Xingyi pointed out that the low-end market has always been dominated by domestic wines, and the high-end wines have been controlled by imported wines. Today, imported wine traders constantly introduce low-end and mid-range wines and lay out prices. With product lines, it intends to snatch the domestic wine market.

From an industrial policy point of view, the wine industry in many countries is affiliated with the agricultural sector. There are agricultural subsidies for production, and there are preferential tax rebates for exports. Compared with Chinese wine, light industry products have great policy advantages.

According to WTO regulations, before 2015, tariffs on Chinese agricultural products should fall below 5%, and imported wines should be among the agricultural products. The drop in tariffs has allowed some high-quality imported wines to enter the Chinese market at a low price. Under the same price, the quality of imported wines may be better than domestic wines. The domestic distributors of imported wines can attract more consumers with high quality and low price of imported wines. Therefore, the middle and low-end product market will gradually be enhanced in the future.

With the continuous release of China's wine consumption potential, all wine producing countries have placed their export focus on China, so Chinese consumers' choices have become more diversified. The EU is still the largest source of imported wine in China. According to customs statistics, in 2012, China imported 290,000 liters of wine from the EU, an increase of 5.8%, accounting for 67.6% of the total import volume; of which, 170,000 liters was imported from France. An increase of 11.3%, accounting for 40%. While imports of French wine increased, imports from Chile, the United States, New Zealand and other countries also increased in varying degrees. Statistics from the Customs show that in 2012, China imported 61.07 million hectolitres of wine from Chile, an increase of 40.4%, accounting for 14.3%, an increase of 3.2 percentage points over the previous year.

Diversification of products Over the years, European wines have gained popularity. However, according to data from the GCF Group (France Grand Cellar Group), due to bad weather, pests and diseases, and reduction of vine cultivation in 2012, a large number of wine grapes are grown throughout Europe. Reduce production. According to industry analysts, this will have a greater impact on the shorter low-end European wines. However, last year, the impact of European grape production cuts on mid-to-high-end wines will not be too great. High-end wines need at least 5 years of cellaring, with a single year of reduced production with little impact.

Industry sources said that once European wine prices rise, it is bound to benefit wines from other regions at the same price. The reduction of grape production in Europe may be a rare opportunity for wines from countries such as Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, and the United States.

At the same time, as wine consumers become more mature, the wines they consume are no longer limited to red wines. White wines, rosés, and sparkling wines are gradually accepted and recognized by consumers.

Category marketing will be valued different strategies, different postures, the same purpose, international wine brands in the process of competing for the Chinese market want to share a cup. However, many imported wine companies have the same feeling: the market is not good to do.

There are two main reasons: First, there is a lack of brand effect in imported wines; second, the low operating threshold. Without brand effect, there will be no real market influence, and no real sales will be generated. With low barriers to entry, many SMEs can import directly from abroad. The result is a flood of imported wine. Faced with so many imported wine brands, consumers are inevitably dazzled and can not remember the brand of wine, which is very detrimental to sales.

Wang Dehui, general manager of Shenzhen Zhide Marketing Planning Co., Ltd. believes that the solution to this problem is product category marketing. Each brand has two names, one is the brand name and the other is the category name. It is difficult to create a brand new competitive market by only doing brands and not making brands. The reason why imported wines were selected by domestic distributors is not only due to the gathering of imported wine brands, but more importantly, imported wines have become a major category in the Chinese market. Rafi is already one of the representatives of high-end imported wines. CASTEL is one of the representatives of imported wines in France. These basic categories make these famous foreign wine brands gradually realize the category of the Chinese market. The constant accumulation and expansion of categoryization has brought greater profits and business opportunities to dealers. Imported wine dealers can use supplies to form a unique position in the minds of consumers, and in conjunction with other marketing initiatives will receive significant results. Nowadays, many brands in white liquor have played out the concept of Maotai Town, which has won the brand premium and market recognition, which is the use of category marketing.

Looking back at the development history of the imported wine market in recent years, it can be seen that the entire imported wine industry represents the brand line of brand-name wines during the simple product introduction period and represents the route development of the wine category. At the 2012 national sugar and wine reception, Guangzhou Sixteen District Wine Co., Ltd. and the US’s second largest winery, Hawker Winery, jointly organized the American Wine Forensics Conference, which was held together with distributor customers and media representatives from across the country. Assessed the "absolute wine" absolute American wine, launched the reputation of defending the US wine market in China. Li Xiaoyi, general manager of the 16th District Liquor told reporters: “Overview of the domestic imported wine market, there are many types of wine franchisees, messy brand names and fake wines. Consumers cannot make accurate judgments at the time of purchase, and wine salespeople have knowledge of wine. Understand the inadequacy, it is often difficult to recommend the most suitable wine for consumers, resulting in problems can not be traced back to the source, affecting the brand image of wine.This time we jointly identify the excellent quality of American wine, is to hope that through the production area to enhance the brand's Premium and market acceptance."