Trillions of Moutai, high-profile to the sea
Reporter丨Xie Zhiying
Editor丨Jiang Yuxuan
Ding Xiongjun, the 50-year-old head of the company, is determined to sell Moutai overseas.
From January 14th to 19th, he sent Wang Li, general manager of the group, to lead a team to Europe to start a series of brand promotion and cultural exchange activities, and the top liquor made its debut at the 2024 Winter Davos Forum.
The Moutai delegation went to Italy and Switzerland to investigate channel sales and terminal construction. Among them, Italy is the core market for Moutai to go overseas.
"The internationalization of Moutai is not a question of whether to do it or not, but a question that must be done well. At the 2024 International Market Work Conference, Ding Xiongjun spoke.
The liquor is hot at sea, and he wants to be the leading big brother.
Tens of billions of ambitions
At the end of December last year, at the 2024 annual market work meeting of Moutai Group, "internationalization" was one of the most frequent words.
Starting from this year, Ding Xiongjun will gradually increase the export volume of Moutai liquor, Maoxiang series liquor and the group's family products, with the goal of "exporting more than 5,000 tons of products and exceeding 10 billion yuan in international export market revenue" by 2027.
The sword is aimed at the volume of tens of billions, Ding's ambition is not small, and the tone is also high.
In the past year, Moutai's annual product exports reached 2132.71 tons, with a revenue of 4.065 billion yuan. In the same period, the total revenue was about 149.5 billion yuan, and the contribution of overseas markets was less than 3%.
"2023 is the first year of Moutai's internationalization. Ding Xiongjun said.
Ding Xiongjun Source: Moutai
The liquor boss is constantly moving.
In June, Moutai went to Thailand to implement the layout of the Asia-Pacific market and convened regional market dealers to hold a semi-annual working meeting.
In September, Ding Xiongjun personally led a team to hold an 11-day cultural tour exhibition in Japan, France and the United Kingdom.
On the 20th of the same month, the Tokyo Moutai Cultural Center opened on Ginza Chuo Street.
During the trip to France, Ding Xiongjun asked the Paris trading company to speed up the self-operation pilot and explore experience for the construction of terminal stores and overseas self-operated channels in major European cities.
"It is not only necessary to complete the deployment of sales work, but also to build an overseas product position, cultural position, service position and the forefront of the internationalization of the entire Moutai Group. Ding said.
In late December, Moutai's logistics company signed an agreement with Cainiao Group to cooperate in the construction of international supply chains.
When products go to sea, Ding Xiongjun pointed out three paths:
Promote a number of brands such as Moutai, Maoxiang series of liquor, health liquor, and wine to go overseas together, explore the overseas layout of Moutai ice cream, coffee, chocolate and other gourmet products, strengthen the collection, appreciation and auction guidance of Moutai old liquor, and standardize the international market of Moutai old liquor.
"The international development strategy of 'one game of chess for large groups' means that Moutai will use the strength of the group to coordinate resources, unified planning, and coordination of all parties to achieve the strategic goal of internationalization. ”
Bai Wenxi, chief economist of IPG China, analyzed to the reporter of "21CBR" that Chinese liquor has a certain influence in the world, and the progress is relatively slow.
"If Moutai can successfully adapt to overseas markets and establish stable sales channels and supply chains, the future prospects are worth looking forward to. Bai Wenxi said.
Adequate policy
Ding Xiongjun's international territory has covered 64 countries and regions, with 44 specialty stores and 3 Moutai cultural experience centers overseas.
As of the end of September, there were 106 foreign dealers, about 1/20 of domestic dealers.
Ding Xiongjun demanded that "afterburner construction and speed up construction" of international terminals.
He introduced that Moutai has conducted a comprehensive assessment of the existing market and the untapped market through 8 indicators, including the "Belt and Road" strategic cooperation countries, major countries in Sino-foreign economic and trade exchanges, the scale of Chinese immigrants, the scale of the spirits market, and the number of Chinese restaurant stores.
Ding stressed that "the number of contract signatories will not increase, and the total amount of contract plans will not increase".
That is, to ensure that the main body of domestic and international channel contract signing remains unchanged, and to promote domestic channel providers and Hong Kong and Macao taxable channel providers, the contract plan of Moutai will be divided into two, part of which will continue to be sold in the original market, and part of the contract volume will be migrated to the international market.
To put it simply, it is to encourage domestic agents to do the international market.
"It's a very smart choice. Xiao Zhuqing, a liquor marketing expert, told reporters that many resources of domestic Moutai agents can be integrated to expand the international market.
"Enterprises with international channels or international sales resources have to declare through domestic agents to enjoy the policy of Moutai's internationalization, which is not open to the public. Xiao Zhuqing said.
Ding Xiongjun came up with four major policies: incentives, proportions, prices and business.
He adopts a combination of comprehensive scoring screening and differentiated policy incentives to guide and encourage domestic, Hong Kong and Macao taxable channel providers to actively expand the international market;
When the relevant channel provider plans to relocate under the contract, it must drive the promotion and sales of high value-added Moutai liquor, joint-stock sauce flavor series liquor and the group's family products in the international market;
At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the economic level of various international regions and the rate of clearance duties, distinguish between taxable markets and duty-free markets, and implement differentiated and flexible price policies.
Ding Xiongjun said that each country has different tariff policies, consumption habits, and religious beliefs, and it is necessary to adapt measures to local conditions. At present, we still have to wait for the Moutai Import and Export Company to issue detailed rules. ”
Xiao Zhuqing revealed that the brand loyalty of Moutai agents is very high, and they will play a role in reviewing or backing up in terms of maintaining rules.
It is estimated that by 2027, Moutai's international market will cover 100 countries or regions around the world.
Breaking the circle puzzle
Led by Brother Moutai, liquor companies have increased overseas. Wuliangye has been a leader from Qin, Yanghe Zhang Liandong and other leaders, and has also frequently appeared on the international stage.
"This is the general trend of China's international influence, which is also related to the entry of domestic consumption into the stock market and serious involution. Alcohol analyst Cai Xuefei said.
Liquor going overseas is still in its infancy.
Customs data show that in the first half of last year, the mainland's liquor exports were about 2.82 billion yuan, with a total export volume of about 7,960 kiloliters, accounting for less than 0.4% of the liquor output in the same period.
"There are three major problems in the internationalization of liquor. ”
Xiao Zhuqing pointed out that in terms of taste and consumption scenes, the mainstream liquor in the world is low in fruitiness, while Chinese liquor is highly flavored.
Foreign countries prefer spirits to drink with ice and water, and Chinese liquor with ice and water will be cloudy, affecting the drinking state.
The relatively high unit price of overseas liquor and the lack of awareness of Chinese liquor among the international mainstream population have affected the breakthrough of the liquor army.
"Most of the locals are used to drinking beer, vodka, etc., and basically have no knowledge of Chinese liquor, and only Chinese people will buy Moutai. Shochin, who has lived in St. Petersburg for many years, told reporters.
Some of the Moutai sold through overseas channels will eventually flow back to China.
"The price of Moutai in the duty-free channel is relatively advantageous, the supply is relatively stable, and more than ninety percent of the buyers are Chinese tourists. An airport duty-free shop staff told the "21CBR" reporter.
"The internationalization of liquor should break through the self-entertainment of the Chinese circle and let foreigners drink Chinese liquor. ”
Xiao Zhuqing said, "It takes the efforts of several generations, and our generation is laying the foundation for the cultivation of brands and consumption scenarios, and it may take the next generation or the next generation to see the results." ”
Ding Xiongjun's main focus is the concept of "MEI", and the road of internationalization should be "the pursuit of beauty", and through Chinese characters such as "Pu, beauty, Mao, incense, and construction method", he interprets the origin of Moutai culture.
Whether foreigners can understand the "beauty" of Moutai depends on whether Ding Xiongjun's method can work.
Image source: Visual China