Author: Li Xiao
Rice-flavored liquor has always been a category that the industry hopes for, as one of the four basic aroma types, it has a fixed customer base, a deep heritage, and a wide range of minds. However, it is undeniable that compared with the three aromas of strong, clear and sauce, the development of rice-flavored liquor obviously has huge potential space.
This review of this rice-scented product has reference significance. The so-called "know oneself and know the other, never lose a battle", more important than "confidant" and "knowing the other", the fit between "self" and "other", for rice-flavored liquor, that is, to gain insight into the consumer demand that has a higher degree of fit with its own category advantages, and even the category characteristics can form barriers, and constantly optimize this feature and continuously strengthen the fit of this consumer demand. This pangolin rock vintage sanhua wine is based on this idea, and its three major product characteristics may be an important support point for the future rice-flavored liquor at the product level.
Chuanshan rock retro Sanhua wine, the place of origin is Guilin, Guangxi, is one of the core production areas of Chinese rice-flavored liquor, the origin of Sanhua wine, the production enterprise for Guilin Yijiang employment, began in 1989, the brand named "Chuanshan Rock", because the company has a large wine storage cave base, is located in the national AAAA scenic spot Guilin Chuanshan Park, covers an area of more than 40,000 square meters, once as a tourist punch card, and won the CCTV report, known as "Guilin first cellar" by the locals.
01
Experience more comfort: Highlight the natural benefits of rice-flavored liquor
Strictly speaking, liquor is a lag in food experience products, and the evaluation of liquor products is good or bad, not only the experience of drinking, but more importantly, the comfort level after drinking. Therefore, consumers' experience needs for liquor products include two parts, first, comfort when drinking, and second, comfort after drinking.
Because the production process is relatively simple, so the rice-flavored liquor in terms of drinking comfort, in fact, has considerable category advantages and potential, on the one hand, the wine body components are simple, the content of components affecting the comfort of drinking is relatively low and easy to control; on the other hand, in the case of flavor is not affected, the improvement process of improving the comfort of the experience is relatively easier to achieve, the current academic aspect, many studies on rice-flavored liquor are also concentrated in this field.
▲ Every detail of the pangolin rock vintage sanhua wine is very finely made. (Photo by Li Xiao)
Therefore, the comfort of drinking, the small physical and mental burden of drinking, should become a major competitiveness of rice-flavored liquor products, and this is also one of the pain points of current alcohol consumption, with the intensification of the concept of health, this demand will further become a more critical criterion for judging alcohol consumption.
Embodied in the vintage three flowers of Pangshan Rock, the entrance is smooth, the throat is smooth, and the wine is sober for 2 hours, which is the deep feeling of most consumers after personal experience. Due to the good drinking experience, the product repurchase rate is particularly high, and another altar-mounted cave sanhua product in Chuanshanyan has been ranked second in Jingdong Baijiu.
It is understood that this is due to the blessing of two aspects of the process, first, The vintage Sanhua wine of Chuanshan Rock, on the basis of the process of traditional Sanhua wine, has carried out a number of drunken reduction process improvements, for example, the raw materials are mixed with refined white rice and refined white glutinous rice, the degree of fine whiteness is higher, thereby reducing the production of fusel compounds; the proportion of koji addition, fermentation low temperature control, and the optimization of distillation of wine to minimize the aldehyde components in the wine body. Aldehydes and fusels are the main components that trigger taste irritation and alcohol.
▲ In a corner of the chuanshanyan wine cellar, all the pottery altars for storing wine are placed on both sides of the road in the cave. (Photo by Li Xiao)
On the other hand, also thanks to the wine storage link, the pangolin vintage three flowers are stored in the natural cave - the pangolin cellar, the temperature is moderate, ventilated and the humidity is large, so that it is more suitable for the volatilization of the aldehyde and fuselant components of the wine body and the completion of the balance of the wine body than the simple meaning of the cellar, which is conducive to the aging of the wine body and the more comfortable drinking body.
02
The taste is more pure: to create a flavor barrier for rice-flavored liquor
The standardized comments of rice-flavored liquor are: honey fragrance is elegant, the entrance is sweet, the mouth is refreshing and clean, and the aftertaste is pleasant. Compared with other aromatic liquors, this kind of rice-flavored liquor is a particularly charming aromatic feature, which can become a flavor barrier after optimization and interpretation due to the main aromatic substances such as ethyl lactate, ethyl acetate, phenethyl alcohol, etc., which are jointly built with the aroma of flowers and fruits. At present, under the trend of forming preferences among young generation consumer groups, rice-flavored liquor with strong floral and fruity aromas actually has certain category advantages.
In the case of Pangoyan Vintage Sanhua, after the author communicated with Mr. Li Aiping, the founder of the Pangshanyan brand, he learned that in around 2015, under the market of pre-mixed liquor, he realized the flavor advantages of rice-flavored liquor, so as to systematically strengthen the characteristic flavor of rice-flavored wine. Li Aiping said: "The characteristic aroma of rice flavor is one of the core values of rice flavor, and it is also the core competitiveness of the entire category, in this regard, we have been optimizing, mainly in two aspects, one is the optimization of koji, on the other hand, the fine treatment of raw materials, in order to achieve three purposes, reduce bitterness, highlight mellow sweetness, and strengthen aroma." ”
▲ Chuanshan rock vintage sanhua wine has become a well-known rice flavor item in Guilin. (Photo by Li Xiao)
The author has also carried out several horizontal comparisons of rice-flavored liquors, and the vintage three flowers of Pangshan Rock have done a better job in the feeling of floral and fruity aroma and honey fragrance, and the feeling is more obvious, and even for consumers who usually do not drink liquor, it is relatively easy to quickly adapt to this flavor.
In this way, this kind of wine body characteristics are particularly valuable in young consumer groups, on the one hand, in line with the preferences of young people for floral and fruity aromas and mellow sweet taste, on the other hand, to meet their needs in fancy drinking, rice-flavored liquor is almost universal base wine, and the wine body itself Floral and fruity aromas and juices, liqueurs, etc. The flavor integration is higher.
03
More elegant culture: increase the brand premium of rice-flavored liquor
Baijiu is a long-chain industry, but also a multi-faceted product to meet consumer demand, so this determines the complexity and inclusiveness of liquor brands, therefore, the image of the production area has also become an important part of the brand value and brand identity of liquor.
For rice-flavored liquor, the unique natural environment of Guangxi's production area, especially the wide recognition of Guilin's "landscape and water under the heavens", should become an important support for the rice-flavored liquor brand, strengthening the value association of good mountains and good water brewing good wine. On the other hand, the beautiful feelings carried by Guilin landscapes can also further enhance the brand image and premium of rice-flavored liquor.
▲ Pangoyan Vintage Sanhua Wine won the International Award. Top right to bottom left are: Silver Medal at the 2019 Singapore Spirits Competition, Gold Medal at the 2019 World Wine and Spirits Competition, Bronze Medal at the 2020 Brussels Spirits Competition, and Silver Medal at the 2021 Brussels Spirits Competition. (Photo/From the brand's official public account)
In this regard, Li Aiping once said that the pure and beautiful feeling of Guilin landscape is the same as the purity and elegance of rice-flavored liquor, liquor is the product of a party terroir, what kind of landscape and humanities, but also created what kind of style of liquor, the purity of Sanhua wine, reflects the cleanliness of Guilin landscape; the softness of Sanhua wine, reflects the roundness of Guilin landscape, this elegant feeling of landscape, will run through the drinking experience, bringing consumers more, higher value, the so-called "drunken man's meaning is not in wine, but between the mountains and rivers."
Therefore, the vintage Sanhua wine of Chuanshan Rock, although it is positioned in the light bottle ration wine, constantly outputs the content associated with the beauty of Guilin landscape, so that the value of Guilin landscape is strongly related to the product value, which is more cost-effective.
At the same time, Ya is also the most advanced pursuit of Chinese culture, in the development background of cultural self-confidence, the development trend of the national tide brand, the development pursuit of spiritual civilization, Ya, will be more integrated into the brand shaping, to meet the Higher demand for spirit and self-realization in Maslow's demand theory, so the rice-flavored liquor should borrow the elegance of Guilin Landscape to pull up the overall brand premium of product brands, corporate brands, and production area brands.
▲Guilin landscape. (Photo by Mercier Zeng)
In summary, from the perspective of Guangxi production area or rice-flavored liquor category, the three major product directions adhered to by Chuanshanyan Retro Sanhua Liquor have a more comfortable experience, a more pure taste, and a more elegant culture, which has reference value, because it is based on the category itself, reflecting the natural advantages of rice-flavored liquor, strengthening the flavor barriers of rice-flavored liquor, enhancing the brand premium of rice-flavored liquor, and matching the growing consumers' experience needs, flavor needs, and cultural needs. The fit of these three aspects is the key to the expansion of rice fragrance in the national market at the product level.