When Will The High-End Era Of Chinese Beer Brands Come?

Chinese beer ushered in the best era.

According to the data of the National Bureau of statistics, the total profit of the whole brewing industry has broken through the highest level in history, breaking through the 100 billion yuan mark for the first time in half a year.

In the profit contribution, in addition to the liquor enterprises which accounted for 80% of the total profit, beer also caught up.

According to the published semi annual reports of listed beer companies, China Resources brewery, the first group, achieved a profit of 4.29 billion yuan in the first half of the year, up 106% year on year. In addition to the compensation income of 1.755 billion yuan from the transfer of the plot located in Shenzhen, the net profit generated by beer still increased significantly in double-digit compared with that in 2019. Zhujiang brewery predicted that its net profit attributable to shareholders in the first half of the year was 295 million yuan to 340 million yuan, an increase of 40% - 60% compared with the same period in 2019 before the epidemic.

In the first half of this year, Budweiser Asia Pacific should account for 520 million US dollars of normalization profits, more than twice the same period last year; In the first half of this year, Carlsberg's Chongqing beer achieved a year-on-year increase of 38% in the first half of this year, following the only three growth in sales, operating revenue and operating profit among national beer companies.

Budweiser Asia Pacific has Harbin beer, Chongqing Beer's Wusu has developed into Carlsberg's largest sales brand in China. The hot brands in the hands of these two foreign-funded enterprises are both Chinese local beer brands, not imported products.

After experiencing the epidemic, Chinese consumers have to drink something good“ The beer market has entered a development stage from basic demands to both basic demands and quality demands, and then superimposed with taste demands. " In July this year, He Yong, Secretary General of China Liquor Industry Association and chairman of beer branch, said at the relevant meeting held after the opening of Qingdao Beer Festival.

The sales of medium and high-end products of major beer enterprises are increasing year-on-year, which means that the high-end beer market is still expanding. In the next five years, whose world will it be?

Hou Xiaohai, chief executive officer and executive director of China Resources beer, recently said: the high-end of Chinese beer is, first of all, the high-end of Chinese brands! Five years later, the market share of high-end products with Chinese characteristics and international brands may be 6:4.

Let Chinese consumers drink more Chinese high-end beer than international brands. A few years ago, no Chinese enterprise put forward this sentence. So, what happened this year?

Chinese beer ushers in cultural confidence

In the world of high-end and super high-end beer dominated by foreign brands, two unusual things happened in the first half of this year.

First, a pure Chinese style beer banquet was held in Guangdong, which advocates foreign wine. The banquet was held in the China Resources Building in Shenzhen. As a new landmark of Shenzhen, the building is also known as the spring bamboo shoot building, with unlimited scenery.

Chinese screens, folding fans, Chinese invitation cards, Chinese classical music, and Chinese banquet halls. What's more, the sponsor, China Resources beer, sent out an invitation in advance. The best way to drink a Chinese beer brand is to wear a Chinese style dress. For men, it is better to wear a Chinese style dress. For men, it is better to wear a Chinese style dress. For women, Qipao is the best choice.

On the day of the banquet, more than 100 major beer customers from all over the country, the middle and senior management of China Resources beer, as well as investors and media personages personally participated in a big meal without "foreign flavor". The participants took photos to commemorate the event. They were surprised to find that drinking beer can also have such a sense of ceremony.

The protagonist on the dinner table that night was a bottle of Chinese beer "Li", which sold for about 500 yuan.

"Li" was launched soon after the hot search. How dare beer compete with Maotai? The factory said, "it's not against drinking with Maotai on the table?" All kinds of consumer voices continue. The limited edition of super priced beer is made by Chinese people. This is the second big thing in the industry.

The launch of Li was specially placed in the Museum of restoration founded by cultural celebrity Ma Weidu. Song Shuyu, chairman of China Liquor Industry Association, said at the listing conference that the word "Li" is relatively unfamiliar to many people. However, "Li" is of great significance to the world wine industry. Because "Li" is the most important existence in the history of human wine making. Li is the earliest grain wine that people learn to brew naturally. Of course, she belongs to China, more than 10000 years ago.

He said that "Gui" (germinated grain) brewed "Li" (the first wine not called wine), which was also the embryonic form of beer. Unfortunately, the brewing technique of "Li" has not been well inherited in China. According to song Yingxing's Tiangong Kaiwu of the Ming Dynasty, it was recorded that "in ancient times, Li was made and liquor was brewed, but later generations were tired of Li and the taste was thin, so it was lost.". It has retained the method of koji liquor making and has been inherited and developed so far.

He Yong, Secretary General of China Liquor Industry Association, said Li was the earliest beer in China. He has worked in the beer industry for 26 years. He often meets some consumers and asks whether the beer is imported from the West? In fact, Chinese beer originated earlier. We are now drinking western modern beer. Modern beer technology was formed in 1956-1981, but we can not deny the value of the existence of early Chinese history and culture.

He believes that the leading enterprise, China Resources beer, has brought "Li" products with historical marks to today through inheritance and innovation, which is not only a return of traditional culture, but also a manifestation of cultural confidence in China's beer industry.

In this regard, Hou Xiaohai, CEO of China Resources beer, believes that liquor and rice wine have deep cultural expression, while beer does not have much culture in the memory of consumers, that is, roasted string, and we can drink it together“ Li's listing hopes to bring consumers a sense of value, culture and ceremony.

Good beer, he said, is expensive, too. Because it has culture, history, careful brewing and high cost, it has high value“ Compared with foreign countries, our beer is not only no worse than others, but also much better Hou Xiaohai said.

According to Zhong Junhui, chief Brewer of China Resources Snow Beer, the company has set up several groups, one of which is to explore the history and culture of this product. He selected raw materials, went to Xi'an to find cultural relics, and went to Jingdezhen to learn about bottle shape design.

Finally, the raw materials millet, millet, job's tears, Lily and hops combined to form a "Li", from the taste grinding and technological innovation, explored for two years“ The body of Li wine is amber, the foam is white and delicate, and the wine has a persistent cup hanging, and the aroma of malt is obvious. The original wort concentration is 18.8%, the alcohol degree is greater than or equal to 8, the color degree is 47.2 + 2.5, and the bitterness degree is also. We have extended the shelf life to two years by means of process optimization and well-designed artwork installations. " Zhong Junhui said.

In fact, super high-end beer "Li" is just one of the quality innovations of Chinese beer in recent years.

Yanjing beer is the pioneer of Chinese refreshing beer. Yanjing Qingxin has adopted 12 major scientific and technological achievements. Among them, Yanjing V10 fine brewed white beer is brewed by the above fermentation process according to the German "pure brewing method" process. The wine has a thick body, dense foam, rich and lasting, and has a light lilac aroma.

There are as many as eight high-tech enterprises under Zhujiang Beer. The annual R & D investment of the company is more than 100 million yuan, which not only dominates the beer industry, but also lags behind most liquor listed companies. After cooperation with Munich University of technology, China Food Fermentation Industry Research Institute and other research institutions, Zhujiang Beer not only participated in the formulation of a number of standards, but also accelerated the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. It completed the development of new products such as Pearl River beer 1985 upgrade version and passion fruit wheat. The formula and process of oat Shitao, coffee Shitao, turbid IPA, osmanthus honey beer and other fine brewing varieties were improved.

Similarly, Carlsberg's Chinese local brand Wusu Beer, which is part of Chongqing beer, has its own characteristics. On August 19, Li Zhigang, President of Chongqing beer, told reporters of the 21st century economic report that, compared with other domestic beer with light taste, Wusu Beer not only has large capacity, with 620 ml, but also has high malt concentration and high alcohol content, which are 11 and 4 degrees respectively, and there are more alcohols, which makes Wusu Beer drink differently.

Song Shuyu said that in the guiding opinions on the development of the industry during the 14th Five Year Plan period, the China Liquor Industry Association has made clear the development path of the beer industry in the 14th Five Year Plan period, accelerated the development of high-end beer, encouraged the personalized and diversified development of products, and spread Chinese beer culture.

Brand building will take time

On August 18, Hou Xiaohai said at the performance conference of China Resources beer's semi annual report that in the high-end market, the market share of China Resources beer has exceeded 20%, reaching 25%“ We no longer need to look at the actions of competitors. Chinese beer companies should have brand confidence, team confidence, cultural confidence and strategic confidence. "

At present, 30% of China Resources beer's high-end products are international brands, and 70% are Chinese brands. Therefore, he believes that the high-end of Chinese beer, first of all, is the high-end of Chinese brands.

Hou Xiaohai mainly refers to the sales gap. At present, Budweiser Asia Pacific is the largest share of super high-end and high-end beer in China. The starting retail price of Budweiser brand in China is high-end price. Hou Xiaohai believes that in the next 3-5 years, there will be 3-4 beer brands with a sales volume of more than 1 million tons entering the high-end camp.

By then, will the high-end era dominated by Chinese beer brands come? In the eyes of 21st century economic reporter, the high-end battle of China's beer brands will take time to build, in addition to keeping up with domestic sales and even surpassing international top brands. As FMCG, the core of beer competition is still the competition of brand power. It includes quality endorsement, brand influence, consumer stickiness and loyalty.

For Chinese beer brands, first of all, it is urgent to refine and continuously spread the brand concept and spirit.

Both Heineken and Carlsberg have hundreds of years of brand history. This is a congenital deficiency of Chinese beer brands. But the precise expression of brand connotation, with the blessing of technology, can shorten the time to reach the last kilometer of consumers.

The rise of Wusu brand is a counter attack of Chinese local brands. No one would have thought that, in the combination of Carlsberg's international strong brands and local brands, Wusu has become the largest beer brand in Chongqing with only two or three years.

"Wusu Beer represents the hard core and unyielding brand spirit." Li Zhigang said that this is not a very popular wine. In the first half of this year, the sales volume outside Xinjiang increased 89% year on year, which was supported by cultural connotation.

The brand positioning of heavy beer is "make friends, enjoy the true colors", Dali Beer advocates "opening a pleasant moment", 1664 advocates "French romance"... In contrast, under the homogenization of most tastes and raw materials, the packaging of heavy beer keeps changing, but does it have the brand spirit? Is there a differentiated positioning for consumers to drink in different scenarios?

Secondly, Chinese beer brands need continuous innovation, and enterprises need to constantly look for opportunities in new fields.

In the first half of this year, Budweiser Asia Pacific announced its cooperation with red bull of Austria to exclusively distribute the Red Bull brand in China, and announced cooperation with several whiskies to jointly develop the market. There are also cross-border cooperation between Carlsberg and PepsiCo in sports events; Whether it's the introduction of fruit beer or the merger and acquisition of craft beer, foreign brands and enterprises are more active, and domestic beer brands follow up or watch the changes.

Innovation is the only magic weapon for international brands to stand firm for hundreds of years. In the new round of technological revolution, Chinese beer brands need to seize the opportunity and overtake on the curve.

The third is to invest in the future and make efforts in the field of sustainable development.

As early as 2017, Carlsberg's sustainable development plan of "towards zero goals" includes four aspects: zero carbon footprint, zero waste of water resources, zero irrational drinking and zero accident culture. In the first half of 2021, the average water consumption of Chongqing beer for brewing 100 liters of beer is only 2.68 hundred liters, which is far better than the industry level of 3.5 hundred liters in China. At present, Chongqing beer Dazhulin factory has become the lowest water consumption plant of Carlsberg group in the world, with an average water consumption of only 2.92100 liters. In the aspect of "zero irrational drinking", Budweiser Asia Pacific also actively promotes the concept of rational drinking to consumers, and advocates a new healthy drinking fashion, reaching more than 10 million people annually. Even though Budweiser Asia Pacific suffered serious losses in the first half of last year, its investment in sustainable development did not decrease. Caring for the earth and human development is one of the important reasons why international brands are respected.

Fourth, looking for strategic acquisition opportunities, expanding sales network and becoming a multinational brand.

A number of research results show that Qingdao beer is the most visible Chinese liquor brand overseas. In recent years, Qingdao beer has accelerated the internationalization of its brand through the export of beer festival. However, from the perspective of sales business, the Chinese market is still the base and main battlefield of Chinese beer brands, accounting for the vast majority of sales volume and operating income. From the fact that Diageo, Budweiser Asia Pacific and Heineken are all over the world, taste is not a market barrier. What breaks the barriers is the strong cultural output under the economic means.

Therefore, the high-end process of Chinese beer brands is accompanied by the international journey. Over time, the high-end era of Chinese beer brands is coming, and it is also the time for Chinese beer enterprises to really open the door to the global market.

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