In the past three years, the new wine drinking track has grown against the trend, and green plum wine is undoubtedly a subdivision track with rapid growth and more attention in the wine industry in recent years.
In order to further promote the technological upgrading and market development of China's green plum wine, the Fruit Wine Development Professional Committee of China Liquor Industry Association held the "2023 China Green Plum Wine West Lake Summit" in Hangzhou yesterday, bringing together wine circulation associations and industry experts, green plum wine enterprises, marketing experts, etc.
At the West Lake Summit, Wang Qi, Executive Chairman of the China Wine Association, first put forward three major requirements for the sustained and stable growth of green plum wine: first, create high quality and lay a solid foundation for industrial development; Second, strengthen the brand, empower the industry confidence and industrial future; Third, scene creation, creating a new paradigm of Yaxing drinking.
Focusing on topics such as industry trends, business operations and process technology, many brands and enterprises expressed their opinions and worked together to open a new era of Chinese green plum wine.
Under the changes in global consumption, oriental plum wine has opened a new pattern
At present, there are no less than 15 production enterprises in the national fruit wine manufacturers whose products include green plum wine and have an annual output value of more than 20 million. The rise of fruit wine, represented by plum wine, is expected to become the next outlet in the wine market. This is also very much in line with global alcohol consumption trends.
According to Nielsen's survey, global consumers are divided into five categories: leisurely, as always, budget-wise, revitalized, and stretched; Most consumers are cautious about spending. In the choice of alcohol, these consumers will judge products and brands from the aspects of high-quality, low-carbon water and low-energy, sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging; At the same time, the world is also under the general trend of low alcohol content.
Online, plum wine also showed strong growth. According to the analysis of the "2022 Low Tide Drinking Trend Report", the scale of China's low alcohol market will reach 33.8 billion yuan in 2022 and is expected to exceed 70 billion yuan by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 30%, of which plum wine will increase by more than 32%. In the e-commerce channel, Meimi leads the low-tide drink market, and since its listing in 2019, it has continuously defended the top spot in the Tmall fruit wine category, which is also due to Meimi's differentiation in product positioning, brand positioning and scene positioning.
The Japanese alcohol market is also showing a trend of declining. According to Shanghai Laurel Crown General Manager Tsutsui and his party, the overall alcohol consumption in the Japanese market is declining, and liqueur is the only growing category, and its core consumption power comes from young people aged 20-29. After the epidemic, Japan's drinking habits have also undergone major changes, with alcohol quality tending to liqueurs, low grades, and shifting purchase channels online. At present, Laurel Guan also launched fruit wine products with different flavors.
Under the global trend of low alcohol and micro-drunkenness, Chinese plum wine will open up a new market pattern and category space.
The collision of Chinese and Japanese plum wine craftsmanship, flavor and culture have become the value weight of Chinese plum wine
In order to promote the better development of domestic plum wine, the brand also needs to return to consumption itself in the future, starting from consumer demand, and iterating and upgrading traditional brewing techniques.
Li Jingming, a professor at the College of Food Science of China Agricultural University, said that the current quality of raw materials in the fruit wine industry is uneven, the process is disparity and it is difficult to solidify, and there are many technical problems that need to be solved urgently. Of course, a certain degree of progress has been made in the construction of raw material base, new products and technological progress of fruit wine accessories, and process innovation.
At present, there are three major processes of plum wine in the world, namely steeping type, fermentation type and formulated plum wine. Yang Xiao, president of Japan's Hailin Hall, mentioned that more than 90% of the plum wine process types in Japan are soaking types, and the preparation type and fermentation type also exist at the same time, which is relatively niche. Benge plum wine is a soaked type, no additional additives are added to the process, only green plum, distilled liquor and sugar are allowed to be used, and natural ingredients are used to form the sweet and sour flavor of plum wine.
In recent years, Japanese plum wine companies are also paying attention to the development of Chinese plum wine, Yang Xiao believes that Chinese plum wine is rapidly improving quality, especially Umemi's exploration of origin and raw materials, surpassing most Japanese plum wine companies; Umemi also incorporates Chinese cultural elements in its products, such as Tangerine Pi Meimi and Da Hong Pao Meimi, which are not only the fusion of Tangerine Pi and tea, but also have cultural value, which is very competitive in the international market.
In terms of the inheritance and research and development of plum wine technology in China, as a category promoter of plum wine, Umemi has also overcome many technical problems. Zhang Yang, general manager of Meimian, said that Meimi's steady growth in the past three years is due to the deep cultivation of the whole team in all aspects of the industry chain, especially the research on the flavor, aging, base wine and Chinese elements of green plum varieties. Recently, the scientific expedition of the Meimi planting base also went into the Hengduan Mountain Area to trace the origin of Chinese green plum and the original plum seeds, and further explore the various possibilities of Chinese terroir and flavor. Zhang Yang also revealed that Meimi will also release the aged plum wine system of Oriental Green Plum Wine to show the true time value of Chinese plum wine.
Regarding the aging value, Huang Rui, deputy general manager of Luzhou Laojiao New Wine Industry Co., Ltd., also put forward the same view, she said that the future sense of value of green plum wine can play a role in the aging wine, and the aging value means that it has the advantages of collectible value and price improvement.
Many industry operators have said that plum wine has now become an industry ready to develop, and the establishment of process standard thresholds will also be conducive to the healthy and orderly development of the industry.
Bound to the dining scene, plum wine or become the first category of Chinese food wine
China is the native land of green plum and green plum wine, and for thousands of years, green plum has not only been used in wine, but has even become a love affair for Chinese. In the face of new market opportunities and trends, products will also face new business challenges when they are introduced to the market and communicated with consumers.
It is worth noting that whether it is Japanese plum wine or Chinese plum wine, a consensus has been reached on the dining and wine pairing in the catering consumption scene. Previously, there were also market reports that one of the strategic opportunities for the category of Chinese wine is to bind the dining scene, and Meijian, Bingqing, and Shunchangyuan all mentioned that Meijiu has a huge opportunity to become a Chinese table wine.
Zhang Yang, general manager of Meijian, mentioned that Meimian proposed the arrival of a new wine era in 2019, and at present, the state of new alcohol corresponds to the diversification of drinking styles and the trend of low-alcohol catering in the catering scene. In the Chinese dining environment, green plum wine has the opportunity to have the same vast space as wine with Western food.
Of course, this also depends on peers to unite to promote the category of green plum wine and promote the way of drinking.
As a leading liquor enterprise, Wuliangye also has a layout in the field of green plum wine. Li Xiaobo, secretary of the general party branch and chairman of Wuliangye Xianlin Ecological Wine Industry, believes that the opportunities of the green plum wine industry outweigh the challenges, first, the green plum wine has a long history, with its own mass base and product popularity, which is not only traditional wine, but also cultural genes; Second, the change of consumers' drinking concept from not drunk to healthy and slightly drunk has further promoted the consumption market of green plum wine with health attributes; Third, the green plum wine industry standard is becoming more and more mature, and the market environment is becoming more and more excellent.
In terms of integration and innovation, Luzhou Laojiao's Chinese-style fruit wine series strives to be balanced, soft and rich. In the view of Huang Rui, deputy general manager of Luzhou Laojiao New Wine Industry Co., Ltd., unlike wine, green plum wine is a relatively well-recognized product, and its price attributes and value attributes are attractive to new consumer groups. At the same time, green plum wine should be made with Chinese characteristics, and it must be self-contained and self-contained.
Facing the future of the wine industry, Lin Shiying, chairman of Guangdong Shunchangyuan Wine Industry Co., Ltd., said that the future development of fruit wine in the world will show a pattern of "rising in the east and falling in the west, and rising in Asia". This is because Chinese fruit wine has global advantages in technology, raw materials and national strength. At the same time, he also called on peer enterprises and associations to develop together and form a joint force in the international market.
As the native land of green plum and plum wine, China has a deep cultural background and consumption base. Professor Gao Zhihong of Nanjing Agricultural University especially mentioned that in addition to iterating on plum fruit research and technology, Mei itself also has spiritual value, and if the brand combines Mei culture to do consumer education, it can also have a better market promotion effect.
In order to promote the healthy, green and sustainable development and high-quality development of the green plum wine industry, at the "2023 China Green Plum Wine West Lake Summit", the "Green Plum Wine Declaration" was also issued, advocating enterprises to improve the quality of green plum wine, actively and aggressively promote the culture of Chinese green plum wine, continue to improve the reputation of the green plum wine category, and work together to protect and strengthen the Chinese green plum wine brand.
Plum wine is a domestic wine category with historical and cultural accumulation, the high-quality development of the green plum wine industry is inseparable from the beginning of the brand and production enterprises, only by truly solving the quality, positioning, brand, supply chain, channels, consumer market cultivation, talents, standards and other issues, can we quickly bid farewell to barbaric growth; Only after the big waves of sand, can we move towards a healthy and sustainable new era that relies on brand and quality to win.
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