Recently, at the main forum of the 2024 Sichuan International Fine Wine Expo, "Stabilizing the Foundation and Breaking Through with Innovation" - China Wine Industry Development Conference, the "Mid-Term Research Report on the 2024 Chinese Baijiu Market" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") compiled by the Market Professional Committee of the China Alcoholic Drinks Association was released. The Report shows that among the top six brands in Baijiu market sales from January to June 2024, Moutai topped the list.
At the conference, Liu Zhenguo, the deputy secretary-general of the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, interpreted the content of the Report and briefly summarized the changes that occurred in the Baijiu market from January to June 2024 from five aspects.
Change 1: Price fluctuations. The national Baijiu wholesale price index showed a mild and turbulent trend. The base wine market was stable. The prices of famous wines were relatively stable, while the prices of local wines declined.
Change 2: Price increase and inventory increase. Wine enterprises stabilized the market price system through favorable prices. However, channel merchants were under pressure from both upstream and downstream, facing the predicament of price inversion and inventory backlog.
Change 3: Brand competition differentiation. Brand differentiated competition has become increasingly obvious. The growth trend of the "quantity" and "profit" of the T9 brands was stable, and the development space of local wines was squeezed.
In 2023, leading T9 brands such as Moutai have all crossed the 20-billion-yuan sales threshold, demonstrating strong market leadership. The survey shows that among the top six brands in Baijiu market sales from January to June 2024, Moutai ranked first.
In contrast, the sales growth of non-T9 famous wines (i.e., other listed wine enterprises) was slightly slower. Brand concentration has gradually increased, and the market pattern dominated by the T9 brands has basically taken shape. For wine enterprises with sales of less than 10 billion yuan, they will face a stock competition environment and even need to cope with the challenge of reduced volume competition brought about by the downward expansion of the market by the T9 brands.
Change 4: Adjustment of the consumption main force and product demand. Changes in the structure of the consumer group, changes in consumption and usage scenarios of high-end Baijiu and sub-high-end Baijiu products, and the continuous growth of the demand for consumption quality and brand upgrading.
Change 5: The market strategy is more cautious. The operating strategies of the entire Baijiu enterprises tend to be cautious. More than 50% of circulation channel operators in the second half of 2024 prefer to "preserve cash flow".
When it comes to promoting the healthy development of the alcoholic beverage market in the future, Liu Zhenguo said that the long-term value attribute of the Baijiu industry and its underlying development logic of a spiral upward trend have remained unchanged. In the future, it is recommended to focus on nine directions:
First, stabilize and improve quality and enhance industry self-discipline; second, the construction of production areas is an important force for enterprise competition; third, horizontal industrial concentration gives rise to the reconstruction of new manufacturer relations; fourth, digital construction promotes the upgrading of precise marketing; fifth, the "1 + N" strategy deepens consumer cultivation; sixth, full-channel layout breaks through the traditional boundaries between online and offline; seventh, "professionalization + refinement + digitalization" operation puts forward higher requirements for talent cultivation; eighth, intensified "involution" accelerates enterprise innovation and breakthrough; ninth, although the internationalization of Baijiu has a long way to go, it is imperative.
Hicap Aiot Technologies(Yantai)Co.,Ltd-Professional closures manufacturing.
