Changyu To Sell Wines From Its Australian Vineyards In June
Date£º
2018-03-22 14:39 Source£º
Author:
Natalie Wang Translator:
China¡¯s biggest domestic winery, Yantai Changyu Pioneers, will start selling wines made from its recently purchased Australian winery as early as June this year, to create ¡°a new growth engine¡±.
One of Changyu¡¯s wineries in Ningxia
¡°Consumers are changing,¡± said Zhou Hongjiang, the company¡¯s new chairman, who took over in January. ¡°People born in the ¡¯50s and ¡¯60s may like Baijiu but younger consumers born in the ¡¯70s and ¡¯80s want to try new things,¡± he was quoted as saying in a Bloomberg report.
The winery purchased a majority stake in Australia¡¯s boutique winery Kilikanoon Wines in Clare Valley last December for a total sum of AU$20.6 million, with an eye on Australian wine¡¯s growing allure in mainland China.
Domestic wine production, as reported by dbHK, has been steadily declining, and for the fifth year its volume dropped to a new low at 10 million hectolitres, while imported wine has been steadily growing as a category.
Aware of the shifting dynamics, Changyu is looking to increase sales of its brandy products and imported wines in the coming years, said Zhou.
At the moment, the company¡¯s local wine sales take up about 80% of Changyu¡¯s total sales with 5% for imported wines and the rest being brandy.
In the coming years, however, it is estimated that local wine sales will decrease to about 50%, while imported wines will rise to around 20% and the remaining 30% will be brandy, and the company is hoping to use the spirit to steal a bigger share from the popular Baijiu market, he revealed.
Changyu also has wineries in France, Spain and Chile.
(https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2018/03/changyu-to-sell-wines-from-its-australian-vineyards-in-june/)