According to the current industry trends, the arrival of "fragrance fever" is full of possibilities.
It is certain that after the sauce wine fever, the fragrance category has effectively ushered in a new round of revival. When Sichuan wine was sluggish, becoming more conservative and no longer leading the trend, Sauce Xiangqian Wine became a hot spot by relying on the drive of Moutai; When the popularity of the sauce drops, the fragrance attracts the attention of all parties according to the drive of Fenjiu.
Since 2019, the industry forums and conferences with the theme and hot spot of fragrant liquor have obviously shown a rapid growth trend, from less than 10 to more than 50 per year nationwide; At the spring/autumn sugar and wine festivals of the whole country and provinces and cities focused on the industry, fragrance enterprises and products performed actively, and activities involving fragrant liquor emerged one after another.
In addition, the capital market has paid more attention to fragrance categories. The capital market is profit-seeking and keen, and after the soy wine market cools down, capital is shifting its attention to the fragrance sector. Moutai single-handedly drove the popularity of the sauce category, and now, Fenjiu seems to be playing the role of Moutai: single-product blue and white Fenjiu has sold hot, the Fenjiu brand has achieved structural growth, and the fragrance category has gained more and more right to speak. Jiuxian Group has developed a new fragrance product "Jinfenhe", Pangquan Winery is poised to develop, and even many non-traditional fragrance wine manufacturers have begun to try to get involved in fragrance.
Qingxiang has the potential to win the future market, and with the joint action of all parties, the comprehensive revival of the fragrance category is becoming a reality step by step.
In today's market environment, the advantages of fragrance categories are also being amplified. The fragrance type has a broad base, the low-end market capacity of the fragrance liquor is broad, with a large room for growth, the ceiling of the price of the fragrance category has not yet appeared, more importantly, the fragrance category has the advantages of internationalization and youth, and the brewing process of the fragrance category is more suitable for large-scale and automated production.
Can "Daqingxiang" replicate "sauce aroma hot"? China Wine Magazine will discuss it with you in three issues. Today brings the first article:
Fragrant, fragrant waves
The prosperity and development of Chinese liquor since the reform and opening up has always been accompanied by the ebb and flow of several main aroma types of baijiu. Although the rise and fall of fragrance types is not changing day by day from the perspective of history, the regular alternating progress and hot spot effect have an impressive impact on the industry.
The birth of fragrance is both "technology" and "ruthlessness"
Looking back at history, the concept of liquor aroma type is not from ancient times, although for a long time, baijiu due to raw materials, brewing technology, and even natural environment terroir, etc., formed different regional production areas, different techniques, tastes and other genres, and formed different styles in their respective consumption regions, and each other is safe, but since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the unified consumer market and large-scale production has undoubtedly promoted the acceleration of circulation and consumption, and the technical exchange and cooperation model formed in the era of planned economy. The experience summary and technical standardization cooperation of different liquor in the region have been promoted, and the brewing techniques originally relying on oral teachers have been replaced by quantitative indicators, technical specifications and production processes, and the aroma differentiation and standard formulation based on the typical characteristics of baijiu have become natural and become inevitable products of the times.
At the beginning of the founding of New China, with Qin Hanzhang, Zhou Henggang and other older generation of brewing technical experts as the backbone, the relevant departments of the state organized several national liquor technical exchanges and cooperation, and organized nationwide wine evaluation to improve the quality of liquor. In order to strengthen management, improve quality, learn from each other, make a comparison of praise, combined with the national conditions of the mainland, in the mid-60s, a more systematic study of the aroma type of mainland liquor was carried out, through the analysis of the aroma components in the wine, the study of the relationship between aroma components and technology, and recognized by the winemaking industry and experts, the evaluation according to aroma type was implemented at the third national wine appraisal meeting in 1979. Since then, the aroma division of liquor has become an important index reference in the industry, and has also become an important basis for the characteristic portrait of alcoholic products. At present, on the basis of the initial basic aroma types such as clear fragrance, strong aroma, sauce aroma, phoenix fragrance and rice fragrance, 12 fragrance types have been added, such as sesame aroma type, soy fragrance type, special fragrance type, old white dry fragrance type, combined fragrance type, tulip type, and other fragrance types. However, in just over 40 years of the development history of baijiu aroma type, it is still the main battlefield of the three major aroma types of thick clear sauce, and the basic pattern of aroma types in the world has not undergone major changes, and the impact of fragrance types on consumers and markets has never been missing, but has become more and more "intense".
Data show that in 2022, the market of mainland fragrant liquor will account for about 60%, the fragrance liquor will account for about 12%, the sauce-fragrant liquor will account for about 8%, and the three main aroma types will occupy 80% of the liquor market. Among them, as we all know, strong aroma liquor occupies the absolute advantage of production, sauce aroma liquor occupies the absolute advantage of profit is also an indisputable fact, and where is the advantage of fragrant liquor, is it willing to be in the middle?
Intense fragrance and heat, the "earliest beneficiary" of fragrance type
Taking the evaluation and division of aroma type as the starting point, the fragrant liquor represented by Sichuan wines such as Wuliangye, Luzhou Laojiao, Jiannanchun, Tuopai Shede and so on is the earliest beneficiary of aroma type. The birth of the concept of fragrant liquor has allowed consumers to expand from the initial love for Wuliangye, Luzhou old cellar and other individual aromatic liquors to Sichuan liquor, for a time, Sichuan liquor has become synonymous with good wine, today's Sichuan wine "six golden flowers" and even "small flowers", in addition to the historic Luzhou old cellar, others are famous from that time, famous throughout the country. The representative brand Wuliangye was once known as the "king of liquor" because it ranked among the best in terms of output, surpassing Moutai to become the "first brother of baijiu".
In addition to its own aroma characteristics loved by consumers, the continuous innovation practice of strong aromatic liquor in those years was also a key factor for success. From single grain to multi-grain, from rich taste to soft, from high to low, dazzling innovation results, so that the fragrant liquor camp has long occupied the active position in the industry, while expanding the consumer market, it has also attracted the national liquor peers to compete to learn, and for a time the aroma and heat pervaded the entire liquor industry chain. From manufacturers, channel merchants, down to consumers and catering terminals, drink the fragrant southern liquor Azuran ingredients (although for a long time consumers do not really understand the difference between aroma types, sauce aroma, clear aroma and other aroma types, and even feel unfamiliar with the aroma type itself, but this does not affect the enthusiasm of consumers to consume strong aroma liquor).
Due to the obvious aroma advantages of fragrant liquor, the popularization of brewing technology, the abundant availability of raw materials, and the derivation of different styles and genres over the years on the basis of the original process, it has occupied a leading position in the domestic liquor market for a long time. However, in recent years, with the return of sauce aroma and clear aroma, the market size of strong aroma liquor has stagnated, or even shrunk, and the growth of efficiency and profit margin has also slowed down.
The sauce is fragrant and hot, and it comes and goes in a hurry?
Since 2017, with the rise of high-end and capitalization of Moutai wine, the sauce aroma fever has made the originally "high-cold" sauce-fragrant liquor stand out, which is really popular. The typical representative of the sauce aroma type is undoubtedly Kweichow Moutai. As the innate top of Chinese liquor, Moutai has driven the overall high-end boom of sauce wine. The rise of this wave of sauce craze began with a sharp increase in the market price of Feitian Maotai. Different from the past, which only focused on product price changes, consumers generally expanded their demand for Moutai liquor driven by investment psychology, and when the scarcity of resources could not meet the general demand, buyers turned their attention to the sauce-fragrant liquor as a whole. And Moutai also realized that the price of wine and the stock price exceeded 1,000 yuan in a timely manner when capital paid attention, and Moutai's financial attributes were highlighted. The investment value of sauce-fragrant liquor has aroused the attention of the whole society to sauce-fragrant liquor, and soy liquor has become another group that rises because of the aroma type.
However, the sauce aroma under the capital hot speculation also soon ushered in the market changes, with the change of the capital market and economic environment, Moutai after completing the capital market dam, timely turned around to cultivate internal strength and main business, and constantly in the brand output and rejuvenation to make an article, and the high attention of the sauce aroma liquor market is decreasing, the big ups and downs left by the sauce aroma fever are gradually emerging, the sauce aroma fever will be Guotai, Diaoyutai, Jinsha, Zhenjiu, Rongda Sauce and other a number of growth enterprises with considerable production capacity and sufficient funds to the foreground, More small and medium-sized enterprises are facing severe tests in channels and markets. It remains to be seen what the next path of fragrance will go.
Clear fragrance type, the road to Jane & the return of the king
Let's finally focus on the fragrant liquor with a longer history. Since the emergence of aroma classification, the development of fragrant liquor can be described as the most stable, low-key, and even fell into a shrinking situation, and the production scale and proportion have hovered in the range of 12-15% for a long time. According to the "Guiding Opinions on the Development of China's Liquor Industry in the 14th Five-Year Plan" issued by the China Liquor Association, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the market size of fragrant liquor will exceed 2 million kiloliters, and the proportion of the industry will increase from 15% to more than 20%. Will this expectation be realized, or even breakthrough?
From the perspective of the traceability of liquor, clear aroma liquor is undoubtedly the longest-term stable aroma type, and there is no one. The typical production area and source of fragrant baijiu is in Shanxi, which is also the birthplace of northern Chinese baijiu, and can even be said to be the birthplace of Chinese baijiu. Although in today's view, the characteristics of the three major aroma types of fragrant liquor are "simple and clean", and it is precisely this characteristic that derives the colorful liquor world today. Looking through the historical materials, you can find that whether it is the strong aroma and sauce aroma in Sichuanqian as far away, or the old Baigan, Erguotou in the same north, you can find similarities in it. If the standard of aroma classification is defined in raw materials, taste style and technology, then the shadow of the ancient Jin school can be found in the process of each aromatic liquor today, that is to say, many processes and regulations of today's Chinese liquor may be passed down from Shanxi wine merchants.
"Boss Fen" exerts force
With a strong process foundation, coupled with the inherent traditional consumer market in northern China, the development of Qingxiang Baijiu actually has the conditions for growth. After the last round of adjustment of the liquor industry, the fragrant liquor represented by Fenjiu saw the aroma opportunity in time, and put forward the slogan of "return of fragrance" in a timely manner, combined with the formation and promotion of the concept of the production area, and formed the prototype foundation of the big fragrance represented by Fenyang, Shanxi.
Looking at the previous industrial structure, although the fragrant liquor has the former "Fen" and long-lasting northern fans, it has been on the defensive for a long time under the background of "southern wine going north" in the past ten years. Unlike the high-profile of the sauce fever, the return of the fragrance fever seems silent, and even initially did not attract more attention. The train relies on the headband - in 2017, Li Qiuxi, former chairman of Shanxi Fenjiu, signed the first target assessment "military order" to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shanxi Province, driving Fenjiu into a period of rapid growth as a whole and firing the first shot of the return of Daqingxiang. The revenue scale of Fenjiu listed companies in that year increased from 6.037 billion yuan in 2017 to 19.971 billion yuan in 2021, with a compound growth rate of 34.86%.
Yuan Qingmao's era opened the "Fenjiu Rejuvenation" plan, which once again strengthened the overall motivation and confidence of the Qingxiang production area. Since then, Shanxi Fenjiu has been determined to actively expand outside the province and deepen its global layout. In order to change the old impression that "Fenjiu is not but the Yellow River", the national distributors conference was even opened on Hainan Island, the "southernmost part of the motherland", and followed the road to the south to fight and expand the sphere of influence. According to the 2022 financial report, the number of controllable terminals in Fenjiu has exceeded 1.12 million nationwide, and the proportion of income outside the province has exceeded 60%.
All-round empowerment
Along with the strategy and market actions of Qingxiang Dragon Fenjiu, marketing agencies and enterprises have also stepped up to sort out the theory and practice summary of the "Great Qingxiang Era", providing ideological theories for the revival of Qingxiang, and "arming" channels and consumer markets. According to the incomplete statistics of China Liquor magazine, since 2019, industry forums and conferences with the theme and hot spot of fragrant liquor have obviously shown a rapid growth trend, from less than 10 per year in the country to more than 50; At the spring/autumn sugar and wine festivals in the country and provinces and cities focused on the industry, fragrance enterprises and products performed actively, and activities involving fragrant liquor emerged one after another; Tian Zhuopeng, Xu Wei, Xu Tao, etc., well-known consulting experts from domestic first-class liquor marketing institutions such as Zhuo Peng and Heig, on the basis of a large number of visits and practices, put forward many practical strategies and methodologies suitable for the development of fragrant liquor, empower fragrant liquor, sort out aroma trends, create a consumption atmosphere, and promote the accelerated development of categories.
Radiates outward from the production area
At the same time, the Lüliang production area of Shanxi, especially the Xinghuacun area where Fenjiu is located, has also formed a number of powerful fragrant liquor enterprises such as Fenyang Wang, Fenxing and Fenyang Distillery in addition to Fenjiu, promoting the accelerated development of advantageous core products. The "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Wine Industry in Lüliang City" clearly states that it will focus on the overall direction of "wine-based, tourism-based, wine-tourism integration, and diversified development", and strive to achieve a liquor production capacity of 600,000 tons, an output of 500,000 kiloliters, and an output value of liquor and related industries of more than 50 billion yuan by the end of 2025, creating a world-class fragrance-type liquor core production area. In fact, the latest statistics show that Lüliang is currently the largest production base of fragrant liquor in China, and the output of liquor accounts for more than 1/5 of the country's fragrant liquor. In recent years, with the further acceleration of the return of Daqingxiang, the liquor industry has achieved steady development, and in the first half of this year, the liquor industry accounted for 11.81% of the city's industrial added value, a year-on-year increase of 22.91%, and achieved an output of 133,700 kiloliters, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%. With the construction of the Fenjiu 2030 technical transformation and expansion project, as well as the construction and technical transformation and expansion of many liquor projects in Fenyang, the operating income of the whole industry chain of Lüliang liquor is expected to exceed 50 billion yuan this year, achieving the goal of the "14th Five-Year Plan" ahead of schedule.
In addition to the core production area of Lüliang, fragrance-type liquor enterprises have also taken Shanxi as the center in recent years, taking advantage of the situation to radiate to many provinces and regions such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yu-Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningqing, and even Hubei-Chongqing, forming an overall attack situation across the Yellow River and Yangtze River, creating conditions for the arrival of the era of great fragrance. (To be continued)
(This article is selected from the 10th issue of China Liquor Industry magazine in 2023, Li Peng, China Liquor magazine)