Recently, many netizens found that a bottle of beer costs more than 1,000 yuan! China Resources, Qingdao, Budweiser have launched thousand-yuan beer products to compete for the high-end market. So, will beer consumers whose price exceeds that of Feitian Moutai pay? Industry insiders believe that this also represents its strategy of seizing the commanding heights of the brand, thereby breaking the ceiling of the low-end consumption scene of traditional beer.
A bottle of beer is more expensive than Feitian Maotai
At the end of the year, it was the peak season for alcohol consumption. On January 9, Tsingtao Beer released the ultra-high-end new product "Legend of the First World" product with a price of 1399 yuan / bottle (1.5 liters).
In addition to Tsingtao Beer, Budweiser has also joined the competition of thousand-yuan beer, and it recently launched a 798ml Tiger Age Edition beer called Budweiser "Master Legend" on the e-commerce platform, which is priced at up to 1588 yuan / bottle, even exceeding the price of Feitian Maotai.
In fact, in the first half of 2021, China Resources Snow Beer launched its ultra-high-end new product "Li", priced at 999 yuan / box (2 bottles).
In foreign countries, it is not uncommon for beer products to sell for 100 yuan or 1,000 yuan, but in China, although beer is experiencing a high-end upgrade from 3-4 yuan / bottle to 10-15 yuan / bottle, the emergence of products with a price of more than 1,000 yuan has refreshed consumers' cognition of beer.
The price is so expensive, some netizens complained, is this wine made of gold?
It is understood that the thousand-yuan-level beer launched by the above three enterprises is very different from the ordinary lager beer products that are drunk daily in terms of raw materials, brewing process and packaging design. For example, in addition to malt and hops, the raw materials used in the liquor launched by China Resources Beer also use millet, millet, barley and lily, etc., intended to restore the predecessor products of beer in Chinese history; while the thousand yuan beer launched by Tsingtao Beer and Budweiser Beer is brewed by oak barrels and bourbon barrels in addition to special raw materials and yeast, and the fermentation time, alcohol and original wort concentration are several times higher than ordinary beer products, which are non-free drinking products.
Thousands of dollars a bottle of beer consumers buy it?
The price of beer exceeds that of liquor, and some even exceed that of Feitian Maotai. Consumers buy it?
The reporter saw in the official flagship store of Tmall Budweiser that the price of "Budweiser/Budweiser Craft Beer Master Legend Tiger Age Edition Gift Box 798ml + Crystal Pair Cup" is 1588 yuan, limited to 60 sets, starting from January 9, according to the product page, the current monthly sales of the product is 47 pieces. Budweiser Jingdong's self-operated flagship store shows that there is no stock in Hunan.
In the official flagship store of Snowflake Beer on the e-commerce platform, the price of "Snowflake Beer Liquor 18.8 degree 999ml bottle *2 gift box" is 999 yuan. The page shows that the wine sells 200+ monthly sales.
In addition, the "Tsingtao Beer Centennial Journey Legend 23.9 degrees 1.5L*1 bottle" is priced at 1399 yuan. Its monthly sales volume is 86 pieces.
The emergence of thousand yuan beer has also aroused discussion among netizens. On Weibo, some netizens said that "gimmicks only" and "beer will expire, there is no value preservation element". "It's just an IQ tax, and no one really buys it, right?" Some netizens also said that to provide high-end customers with a choice, no money to drink cheap, money can choose expensive.
"The most expensive beer I've ever drunk is a bottle of more than 200 yuan, and the first time I heard about it for more than 1,000 yuan." Mr. Xia, a citizen of Changsha, said that he likes to drink beer, has gone to Qingdao many times to participate in beer festivals, and has drunk many types of beer, but the price is generally not more than 300 yuan a bottle. However, I still won't pay for it.
"Such an expensive beer will certainly not be bought and drunk by yourself, and there is a free way to try it." Mr. Wang, 26, said.
Opinion: A new generation of consumers is driving the high-end of beer
"This is a comprehensive upgrade of the beer industry." Zheng Yingping, executive secretary of the Hunan Liquor Industry Association, said that in recent years, beer companies have been hoping to get out of the low-end consumer market and make efforts to the high-end. With the diversification and personalization of consumer market demand, beer companies use different raw materials through innovative processing technology to form differentiation in taste and high-end in categories. The large-span launch of ultra-high-end products is intended to break through the ceiling of low-end beer consumption, and with a beer that can be put on the table, it will play an upward role in the industry. From the perspective of the market, the product will meet the needs of some high-end people who do not drink liquor, and may compete with wine.
"Head brands have successively launched high-priced products, which also represents its strategy of seizing the commanding heights of the brand." A very important use of beer products with a price of 100 yuan and 1,000 yuan is to help manufacturers break through the ceiling of the industry and bring a hint to the consumer market - a bottle of beer can not only sell for a few yuan, but also sell for hundreds and thousands of yuan. Beer industry expert Fang Gang said.
"Beer can not only be high-end, but it can also be very high-end." Hou Xiaohai, chairman of China Resources Beer, once said in an interview that the significance of launching liquor is not in the large number of sales, on the one hand, it is mainly to spread Chinese beer culture, so as to break the cognition that beer is an imported product; on the other hand, it is hoped to enter the gift and high-end consumer market from the perspective of cultural products, and then break the ceiling of the traditional beer low-end consumption scene.
The recent beer industry framework report released by Everbright Securities proposes: upgrade in the change, break the game in the upgrade. At present, China is in the maturity stage of the market, consumers' demand for high-end products has increased, and the proportion of high-end sales has increased. In the era of low-end beer, a single brand can obtain a very high market share; in the high-end stage, manufacturers need to meet the needs of different consumers through a rich brand matrix. The main consumer group of beer is concentrated in 20-45 years old. The "post-90s" are more willing to choose high-end beer with a price of more than 10 yuan. With the change of generations, the rise of a new generation of consumers is promoting the rapid development of high-end beer.
Ping An Securities Research Report shows that since 2018, the sales structure of the domestic beer industry has shown a high-end upgrade, and the sales volume of high-end beer has increased from 11% in 2002 to 33% in 2020 (high-end/mid-end is 12%/21% respectively), and the sales volume of high-end beer in the United States in 2020 is 77% (high-end/mid-end is 34%/43%), so there is still a lot of room for high-end domestic beer.
Therefore, high-end competition is also considered to be the key to the next round of beer companies " decisive battle" . At the China Resources Beer Channel Partner Conference held in November 2021, Hou Xiaohai said that the competition between the top 5 is a showdown between masters, and the high-end share determines whether it is a leader, a follower, or a buried person.
Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Chen Zhangshu
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