Wine market in China 'like dog years'

Justin Cohen from Ehrenberg-Bass Institute has said that China’s rapidly evolving wine consumer market is like “dog years” with one year in China equating to seven years elsewhere.

Speaking at the Wine in China conference hosted by Debra Meiburg MW at ProWine China, Justin Cohen also discussed China’s gifting culture from a sales point of view. While the Government has cracked down on the policy of gifting for its officials, the traditions of buying expensive and luxury gifts is deep-rooted for consumers which can be used an advantage for companies focusing on high end wines.

“If you look at the frequency people buy wine for a special occasion in China, it is maybe one to two times per year,” he said. “So if you have a non-luxury brand, then focusing on the gift giving market is not a good strategy.”

Chuan Zhou, research director at Wine Intelligence also touched on the importance of brands in China, a market which still favours the big names. “China is a brand market; Chinese love brands,” he said.

“They are much more important than country, region or varietal. Most consumers prefer to choose a brand they know, they’ve tried before or has been recommended by friends and family.”

Zhou then went on to identify key traits of younger consumers who are now firmly in the sights of many wine companies looking to crack the millennial market.

“When it comes to young people, there are two things to consider: packaging and lower alcohol content. Young people in China are moving away from the high alcohol drinking of their parents,” he said.

Read the full article here.

Dr Justin Cohen's expertise is in wine marketing and he has contributed to much of the wine marketing research on the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute Wine Marketing website.