“And mywife appreciatesvarious
kindsof cocktailsand fruit wines,”
Lusaid.
Arecent report in medical journal
The Lancetsaid alcohol consump-
tion inChina ison the rise.
In 2 0 17, men on average drank
more than 11 litersof alcohol, mostly
spiritsand beer, while women drank
3liters. On average,Chinese adults
drank more than 7 litersof alcohol,
up bynearly 70 percent from 199 0.
The report added that alcohol
consumption globallyhasrisensig-
nificantlyin the past30years, largely
due to increasedsalesinChina and
India.
The report’slead author, Jakob
Manthey e,arsearcher at the Insti-
tute ofClinical Psychologyand Psy-
chotherapyin Dresden, Germany,
told The Guardian that before 199 0 ,
most alcohol wasconsumed in high-
income countries.But thispattern
haschangedsubstantially, with
consumption being greatlyreduced
acrossEurope but risingsignificantly
inseveral middle-income countries
such asChina, India and Vietnam.
As China’sdrinking culture has
changed,Chineseconsumersin
general are consuming more alco-
hol,said SnowChen,senior cul-
turalstrategyconsultant at market
res earchcompanyKantar.
“In the past, drinking inChina was
mostlyassociated withsocial occa-
sionsor businessdinners,”shesaid.
“Today, with economic development,
the drinking culture and lifestyle in
the Westhasgraduallybeen brought
toChina.Chinese are now more like-
lyto connect drinking with personal
occasionsand use alcohol to relax,
have fun or to indulge themselves.”
Moreover,Chinese consumers
now have different requirementsfor
varioustypesof alcohol. Theyare
becoming “more professional” and
have a better understanding of dif-
ferent drinks,Chensaid.
“For example, more consumers
have begun tosample different types
of beer, or know how to appreciate
and evaluate beer, not just merely
drink it asa companion to food,”she
added.
The Lancet report predictsthat
China willsurpassthe United States
in alcohol intake per capita by 2030 ,
withChinese adultsprojected to
drink more than 1 0 litersannually
on average, and per capita consump-
tion of alcohol in the US to drop to
9.5 liters.Bythen, about 77 percent
of people inChina are forecastto
drink alcohol at least occasionally,
compared with 73 percent in the US.
Arecent report bymajor e-com-
merce platform Suningsaid that its
salesof alcohol rose greatlylastyear.
Wine wasthe most popular choice,
followedbyspiritsand beer.
Salesof theChinese liquorbaijiu,
which iscommonlyconsumed at
wedding banquets,haverisen along
with the price, withsome 2 0 million
couplesmarrying inChina from 2 010
to lastyear.Baijiuismore popular in
lower-tier citiesthan in metropolises.
The greatest demand isfor bottles
priced from 1 00 to 300 yuan ($15 to
$44), the Suning reportsaid.
Salesof beer and wine have also
beensteadilyrising, especiallyhigh-
qualityor niche productssuch as
imported wine and craft beer.Chi-
nese women prefer fruit beer, non-
alcoholic beer ands t wine, withwee
growth of all three exceeding the
industryaverage.
US beer andspiritsproducer
AlltechBeverageshipped itsfirst
Kentuckybourbon brand Town
Branch toChina in 2 0 11.
JonathanArdoin, head ofAlltech
Beverage DivisionChina,said mid-
dle-class Chinese are now readyto
tryspiritsor beer from overseas,
which wasn’t the case when the com-
panyfirst arrived in the country.It
nowsellsa range of imported drinks
inChina, and hasalsosetupafac-
toryin Hebei province.
“People arestill drinking, but arewilling to get out of their comfort
zone,”Ardoinsaid.
He added that alcohol isagood
“palliativesolution” to relieve pres-
sure for people who are constantly
understress, andChinese consum-
ersare following a global trend that
hasled to increased demand for
imported alcoholic beverages.
Salesof Scotch whiskyare falling
in Europe and the US, while Irish
whiskeyisthe industry’sfastest-
growing market.Alltech hasreceived
manyinquiriesfromChina and
began importing a range of Irish
whiskeyinto the countrythisyear,
Ardoinsaid.
“About threeyearsago,Chinese
consumersbeganto develop a pas-
sion for cocktail bars, and in Guang-
dong province at least200 such bars
have opened in the past 18 months,”
hesaid.
The occasionsand placeswhere
Chinese drink alcohol have gradually
changed,said LorisLi, research direc-
tor at MintelChina Reports, adding
that the growth rate for domestic
alcohol consumption exceeded that
for imported drinkslastyear.
Totalspending lastyear byChi-nese on imported alcohol wasesti-
mated at 565 billionyuan, a riseof
percentyear-on-year, whilespending
on domestic alcohol wasestimated
at 5 0 1 billionyuan, up by4.1 percent
year-on-year.
Some 58 percent of consumers
drankspiritsduring festivalswith
familyor friendslastyear, while 48
percent didso at home at other times
of theyear.
“Mealswith familyand friends
are now the most popular occasions
whereChinese drink alcohol,” Lisaid.
“Connecting drinking with family
dining will be keyto boostingsales.”
Chen, from Kantar,said manyalco-
hol producersarestriving to attract
young drinkers— a promising mar-
ket. For example,Chinese liquor
brand Moutai, which used to be
associated with a mature image and
high-end occasions,hass tarted to
attractyoung consumers,using dif-
ferentstylesof packaging and design.
Thebaijiubrand Jiangxiaobai
waslaunched in 2 0 11, based on the
younger generation’sdemand for
spiritswith a less spicytaste than
traditionalbaijiu. Salesof the brand
lastyear reached 2 billionyuan, and
it hasbeen exported to more than 2 0
countriesinAsia, Europe andAfrica.
Liu Peng, deputygeneral manager
of Jiangxiaobai,said theChinesebai-
jiumarket hasexceeded 6 00 billion
yuan, and the older generation likes
the drink’sstrong andspicyflavor.
“But theyounger generation, those
born in the 1980sand’90s, prefer the
taste to be light and pure, which is
still an uncontested market,” hesaid.
Liusaid theyounger generation’s
“drinking lifestyles” are now closer
to those in the West. In the past,Chi-
neseused to drink during long and
heavydinners, but now theytake
alcohol on variousoccasionsand at
different timesin bars,restaurants,
offices, at home and during travel.Compared with traditionalbaijiu
brands, Jiangxiaobai hasmade two
changesto cater toyoung consumers.
First, it lowered the alcohol content
and “softened” the taste to appeal to
young graduateswho used to drink
beer before entering the job market.
Then, it used packaging and designs
to matchyoung people’stastes, and
also held activitiesto attract them.
“The demandsof theyounger gen-
eration change veryquickly,soour
productsand brandshave to evolve
aswell,” Liusaid.
Chensaid that asthe demands
ofChinese consumershave become
more diversified,salesof drinksin
small-categoryand niche markets
are booming.
“Manyprivatesmall liquorshops
and barsare generallyplaying an
increasinglyimportant role inChi-
nese consumers live’ s,asare import-
ed alcoholic drinksand craft beer,”
shesaid.
Writer Zheng Shiping, known by
hispen name Yefu, accidentallydis-
covered thatbaijiufrom hishome-
town, asmall village in Lichuan city,
Hubei province, waspopular with
some consumersin first-tier cities.
Fu Lei, product manager at Yefu
AcademyCultural andCreative
IndustriesCo,said: “Yefu’smother
usedtoworkinabaijiudistillery,so
he hasaspecial interestinbaijiuand
likesdrinking and collectingbaijiu
products.Hemissesproductsfrom
hischildhood and hasmentioned
manyof them in hisstories,including
the local vegetables, tea and alcohol.”
Thebaijiubrand Wuximan was
firstpresented asa gift to people who
bought other local products, but the
number of repeat purchasesof the
drink rose unexpectedly. The com-
panythenstartedselling it online or
through Yefu’spersonalsocial media
platformsto hisfollowersat 99yuan
a bottle.
With artistic packaging featuring
hispoetryand lyricson a terrazzo
bottle, the brand wasproduced bya
small workshop in Yefu’svillage from
mountainspring water and pure red
sorghum. On good days, more than
100 bottlesadayaresold.
Fusaid: “Baijiui niche marketsa
and consumersmainlycome from
big cities, where there are either
expensive high-end brandsor low-
end ones.Itisnot easyfor people to
obtain pure-grainbaijiu, and we try
tosell them good-qualityoriginal
productsthat are reasonablypriced.”
Ardoin, fromAlltechBeverage
DivisionChina,said theChinese
market for alcoholic beveragesis
evolving much faster than elsewhere,
and innovation isthe keytosurvival.
“Chinese consumerslike com-
pletelydifferent flavorsto thosein
Europe or the US, and theyare far
more open-minded about trying
something new,” hesaid.Chinese‘drinkinglifestyles’nowclosertothoseintheWest
ALCOHOL:
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Grapes are harvested in Changli, Hebei province.YANGSHIYAO/XINHUAAlcohol consumption in China is on the rise.PROVIDEDTOCHINADAILYCHINADAILY GLOBAL WEEKLY August 2-8, 2019 COVERSTORY 3