Australia Courts Chinese Wine Drinkers

Australia Courts Chinese Wine Drinkers

Marketing, 2nd Edition

Business buying behaviour

Australia courts Chinese wine drinkers

Summary

Wine Australia is taking 100 Chinese representatives on a national tour to lift Australia's reputation in the premium market in China.

Transcript

Ticky Fullerton, Presenter: In an effort to lift the value of Australian wine in China, 100 Chinese representatives have been taken to the best wine regions around the country.
Australian wine already has a strong foothold in China, but Wine Australia wants to enhance its reputation in the premium wine market.
Kirstin Veness reports.
Kirstin Veness, Reporter:Here in Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, Chinese trade and media delegates are getting to see how some of Australia's best wine is made.
Perry Zhou is one of the 100 Chinese guests brought over by Wine Australia, and he's impressed.
Perry Zhou, Chinese Guest:I think that Australia is a magic land and of the wine, and so - even the people.
Kirstin Veness: In the last year, $170 million worth of Australian wine was exported to China. In the hope they'll further Australia's market share, groups like this have been invited to inspect wine-producing regions across Australia.
Lucy Anderson, Wine Australia: Australian wine's very popular in China. You know, for imported wine, France is the number one country and it's about 40, 45 per cent of the value and volume. Australian wine is number two. So, it sits at about 20 per cent by value.
Kirstin Veness: Perry Zhou buys wine for hotels. He says the big commercial brands are well-known in China, but he's looking for more boutique wines.
Perry Zhou: Even in Shanghai, most of the Chinese just know the shiraz and the cabernet from Australia. So they want to find more interesting wines.
Kirstin Veness: Small winery owners like Martin Spedding are hoping to capitalise on this.
Martin Spedding, Winery Owner: I think the Europeans have been very successful in marketing their wines into China as premium product, premium wines, and I think Australia needs to do the same thing.
Kirstin Veness: Traditionally, the market focus has been on the first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, but the word is spreading.
Lucy Anderson: The trend for consuming wine and imported wine is going beyond those first-tier cities into second and third-tier cities, and these cities are still large in size.
Kirstin Veness: Wine Australia wants to lift the dollar per litre value of Australian wine in China to ensure enough money filters down the supply chain.
Lucy Anderson: One of the challenges for the Australian wine community is to really lift the image and ensure that people both here in Australia as well as overseas are prepared to pay that little bit extra because of the quality and where the wine's coming from.
Kirstin Veness: While Australia has cornered the everyday wine market, getting more value per litre could lift Australia's standing in the prestige market.
Lucy Anderson: Brand is important and sometimes it comes down to the most expensive wine. So, we get comments that Australian wine isn't expensive enough.
Lucy Anderson: There's a very diverse wine market in China and it's not just a demand for cheap wine. Far from it. They are sophisticated consumers who aspire to all things that consumers in developed markets aspire to.
Kirstin Veness: But it's simple, really.
Perry Zhou: I think if the wine's really good enough, the Chinese will to pay that money to buy this good stuff.
Kirstin Veness: Wine Australia is hoping its investment pays off.