mid-autumn festival wine market research: sales are sluggish, australian brands perform differently
2024-09-13
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"mooncakes + red wine" was originally a standard in the mid-autumn festival gift market, but mr. chen, who runs wine brands such as "swan manor" and "xi ge winery" in tangshan, hebei, feels that the market is a bit "cold", and the sales of his products have dropped by about 70% year-on-year. the person in charge of the wine area of a beijing supermarket also said that the sales of mid-autumn festival red wine gift boxes were average, and group purchase orders dropped by more than 50% year-on-year.
in response to the downturn in the wine industry, brands such as swan estate and penfolds launched tasting activities before the mid-autumn festival, and some distributors boosted sales by opening experience stores. there are also platforms that put cost-effectiveness first in product selection, focusing on the 100-yuan price range and daily household consumption scenarios. red wine sales before the mid-autumn festival increased by more than 40% year-on-year.
as the biggest variable in the wine market in 2024, australian wine surpassed chile in the first half of the year and became the second largest source of imported wine in my country after the "double anti-dumping" (anti-dumping and anti-subsidy) measures were cancelled. however, a beijing news reporter visited the market on the eve of the mid-autumn festival and found that at the sales terminal, french wine still dominated in terms of brand quantity, and australian wine has not yet seen a significant increase. according to industry insiders, australian wine brands are clearly differentiated, with high-end brands represented by penfolds rising in both volume and price, while low- and mid-end products below 200 yuan are rarely sought after.
red wine market "even weaker than last year"
"before the mid-autumn festival, my wine sales were 20% to 30% higher than usual, but down about 70% from the same period last year." wine dealer mr. chen believes that the wine consumption market is mainly in business scenarios and holiday gift giving, and the amount of family consumption is limited. in the current consumption environment, the demand for gifts has decreased, and relying solely on the mid-autumn festival to stimulate wine consumption is too weak. "giving gifts is nothing more than expanding new projects or settling old projects. if you can't do both, why give gifts?"
a beijing news reporter saw in a chain supermarket in beijing that before the mid-autumn festival, only two gift boxes of penfolds no. 1 blended red wine and lafite hierro red wine were put on the promotional display, which was far less impressive than the white wine gift boxes next to them. according to the relevant person in charge of the supermarket, the sales of wine during the mid-autumn festival this year were average, and the group purchase order volume was "more than half" less than the same period last year, not as popular as during the spring festival. currently, the best-selling single wines in the supermarket are australian "penfolds" and french "crooked neck", with a unit price of 300 to 400 yuan. "it's not that the cheaper the better, the more people want it. there are all kinds of prices."
in beijing new world supermarket, french chateau batty has set up promotional displays, with multiple series priced above 198 yuan doing "buy one get one free" activities, and has prepared universal gift boxes for consumers. domestic wine brand "great wall" has also launched several gift boxes, with an average selling price much lower than imported wines such as penfolds no. 1 (539 yuan) and lafite osier (399 yuan). among them, the "great wall oak barrel collection gift box" (750 ml × 2 bottles) originally priced at 138 yuan, the promotional price is 109 yuan; the "great wall golden collection gift box" originally priced at 218 yuan, containing 2 bottles of 750 ml and 2 bottles of 375 ml wine, is only 179 yuan after discount.
before the mid-autumn festival, a great wall wine gift box was sold in a supermarket in beijing. photo by guo tie, chief reporter of beijing news
according to yang zhengjian, dean of the wine business school of wine business observer, the sales of wine gift boxes before the mid-autumn festival this year are "even weaker than last year", mainly because the number of gift box orders from distributors is small, and many are using general gift boxes during the spring festival, without customizing gift box packaging specifically for the mid-autumn festival market. some merchants will use silk screen printing to print customer logos after receiving orders to meet personalized needs. in terms of price, the current red wine gift boxes are mostly dominated by a pair of less than 200 yuan, "at least 300 yuan in previous years."
wine merchants adjust to cope with the dilemma
in fact, the domestic wine market has been sluggish for a long time. wang xuwei, secretary general of the wine importers and exporters branch of the china chamber of commerce of food, agricultural and animal products import and export, once said at the 2024 spring sugar and wine theme forum that from the perspective of the industry cycle, the wine market has been adjusting for nearly 6 years. due to the complex situation and many factors, it is difficult to accurately predict the end time of the adjustment; on the other hand, due to insufficient effective demand, the wine market is mainly concentrated in the competition for stock.
in the first half of 2024, the wine market showed no obvious signs of rebound. among the 10 listed and listed wine companies that have released financial reports, only 3 remain profitable. changyu, which accounts for more than half of the revenue scale among the 10 companies, also ended its three consecutive years of interim report growth. according to data from the china alcoholic drinks association, in the first half of the year, 50.9% of wine companies above designated size were in the red, sales revenue decreased by 11.1% year-on-year, but profits increased by 42.7% year-on-year.
faced with the industry's predicament, wine merchants are also trying to save themselves. according to mr. chen, ningxia's "xi ge winery" has been promoting the "china tour" event in 2024, trying to capture the top consumer groups, and launched new "jade pigeon flowers" dry white and dry red products in the summer. mr. chen also opened a "xi ge" light luxury store in tangshan. "there are some results at present, which can be regarded as a positive response in a negative environment."
compared with the above-mentioned merchants, the self-operated fresh food platform dingdong maicai is in a much better situation. the relevant person in charge said that dingdong maicai's wine sales before the mid-autumn festival increased by more than 40% year-on-year, and the growth rate was in line with expectations. as early as two years ago, dingdong maicai began to adjust the structure of wine products, focusing on wines around 100 yuan, mainly for daily household consumption, "so the current dingdong maicai wine sales are relatively healthy."
changyu also responded to investors in may that the company had a bad start in the first quarter and was under pressure to a certain extent in the second quarter. it must rely on innovation to solve problems, such as breakthroughs in circle marketing, banquet promotion, and brandy shandong base. at the same time, it must operate low-alcohol wines well, especially "little wine" targeting young consumer groups.
australian brand differentiation
the biggest variable in the domestic wine market in 2024 is the "return" of australian wine.
since march 29, my country has stopped imposing anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imported wines originating from australia. in the previous three years, the amount of wine imported from australia by my country has dropped by 99.63%, and the market share of wines from france, chile, spain, italy and other countries has gradually increased. the wine importers and exporters branch of the china chamber of commerce of food, native produce and animal products pointed out that the return of australian wine has become the biggest market variable since 2024.
penfolds, a representative australian wine brand. photo by guo tie, chief reporter of beijing news
according to the statistics of the chamber of commerce, in the first half of 2024, the growth rate of wine import value accelerated significantly, and the import volume showed a single-digit growth, with a slight correction. in june, the high growth of australian wine drove the overall import of wine to surge. the cumulative import value in the first half of the year was us$710 million, an increase of 20.7%; the import volume was 130 million liters, an increase of 1.8%.
from the perspective of import source countries, the chamber of commerce described the return of australian wine as "allowing the market structure to continue to change in the boiling heat". in june, australian wine won the double championship in import volume and import value, accounting for 34.1% and 53.4% respectively. in the first half of the year, the share of wine import sources concentrated on australia, and the import value of australian wine exceeded chile, rising to second place; the import value of french wine still ranked first, and the situation of decreasing value and increasing volume turned into a decline in both volume and value, and the import volume accelerated downward; the growth rate of chilean wine import volume narrowed, and the decline in value widened; the import of italian wine turned from increasing volume and decreasing value to a decline in both volume and value.
however, at the consumer end, the number of australian wine brands and products has not yet shown a significant increase. a beijing news reporter visited beijing supermarkets and found that french wine still occupies a dominant position, followed by chilean wine. wines from australia, germany, spain and other places are almost at the same level in terms of brand and product quantity.
according to yang zhengjian, australian wine brands are highly differentiated. currently, penfolds is the most popular brand in domestic commercial scenarios, and other australian brands are far behind penfolds. according to a survey by wine business observer, in this year's mid-autumn festival market, except for well-known brands such as penfolds, which sold well, other australian wines did not perform well, and the number of orders for mid- and low-end products around 200 yuan was relatively small.
mr. chen told the beijing news that after the cancellation of the "double anti-dumping" measures, the leading australian wine brands did not reduce their prices, and penfolds has even been rising. if the price does not come down, the product's cost performance will not be high. "strictly speaking, apart from the famous wineries, australia is basically in a state of only having products but no brands."
a person in charge of dingdong maicai said that the red wines currently sold on the platform mainly come from chile, spain, france, germany and other regions. after the release of australian red wine, related products will be gradually put on the shelves, such as the cost-effective "shadi". "as far as the overall products are concerned, dingdong maicai will adhere to the principle of 'extreme quality-price ratio', and then iterate the existing wine products based on user feedback."
beijing news chief reporter guo tie
editor: li yan
proofread by mu xiangtong
