With the popularity of whisky, I estimate that the domestic whisky market will grow by about 15% this year, and the market is still very promising......I think that Guangdong Daqin Whisky will be put into production in Guangdong at the end of this year, and it can contribute to the revitalization of Cantonese liquor. In the recent "Confidence 2024" interview, Ye Zhenbo, partner of Daqin Whiskey and chairman of Genting Hotel Nankunshan, made the above judgment in an interview with the reporter of the Nandu Bay Finance Society-Wine New Consumption Index Research Group.
As one of the earliest foreign liquor categories to enter the Chinese market, whisky has continued to be hot in recent years, especially after the post-90s, post-00s and other young consumer groups will use whisky as the "first sip of wine", the track has ushered in development opportunities, Zhiyan consulting statistics show that China's whisky market has grown rapidly from about 1 billion yuan in 2015 to nearly 5 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of nearly 5 times in 9 years.
For Daqin Whisky, the fast-growing domestic whisky market has brought new development opportunities, which also provides confidence for Ye Zhenbo to expand production and build a factory this year and vigorously promote China's local whisky.
This year's whisky market
Or keep 1above the growth
Compared with the domestic liquor market, although the market size of whisky can be described as "small and big", and most of the products circulating in the market are foreign brands, the reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society noticed that domestic liquor companies including Bairun shares, Yanghe shares, Langjiu, Gujing Group and Guyue Longshan are laying out this track.
For the local brand Daqin Whisky, the expansion of consumer groups and the participation of well-known liquor companies have also brought opportunities for the product to break through in the market.
As the earliest single malt whisky distillery in Chinese mainland, our founder Wu Songbai began to plan site selection in his hometown of Zhangzhou, Fujian Province in 2007, opened mountains and prepared roads in 2008, poured into oak barrels after the first batch of new malt liquor gushed out of the still in 2014, and then obtained the production license for whisky maturing in oak barrels in 2016, and finally launched the first batch of whisky products in 2020, we have a long time of accumulation and growth in the field of single malt whisky. At the same time, the founder Wu Songbai continues to improve and optimize the brewing technology, aiming to produce a single malt whisky that is more suitable for our Chinese taste. In my opinion, with the improvement of people's daily life and the pursuit of a better life, especially under the consumption trend of 'drink less, drink better', whisky will gradually become one of the main consumption trends for people who have a higher pursuit of quality of life. ”
Ye Zhenbo told the reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society that from 2018 to 2019, the growth rate of the domestic whisky market was about 23%, even from 2020 to 2023, the growth rate of the market will still remain at about 12%, combined with a number of industry statistics, Ye Zhenbo judged that the whisky market is expected to be higher than 15% this year, "even if the overall wine market is in the stock game, whisky can still maintain a certain growth force."
Under the background of substantial market growth, many practitioners have naturally entered the market to share the soup, among which Daqin whisky has already been officially put into full production in 2016, and has also made various preparations for the expansion of the domestic market.
In terms of hardware, public information shows that at present, Daqin Whisky has produced and reserved nearly 60,000 barrels of single malt whisky in Daqin Luyi Liquor Industry in Daxi Town, Fujian Province, and has built a whisky distillation production line, a whisky culture exhibition hall, a whisky oak barrel warehouse, an oak barrel factory, a wine product packaging plant and other supporting facilities, with equipment and production capacity leading in China; In terms of "soft power", Daqin Whisky's products have "gained a lot" in WWA (World Whisky Competition), ISC (International Spirits Challenge) and TWSC (Tokyo International Whisky and Spirits Competition), such as Daqin Bourbon Single Cask Whisky "Chaoyang Red", which won WWA's "Best Single Cask Single Malt Whisky in China" (category champion) in 2022, and Daqin Gold Medal Single Malt Whisky, which won WWA's "Best Single Malt Whisky in China" in 2023"Gold and so on.
Eight whisky production lines were installed
This year, a new plant will be built under Nankun Mountain, Guangdong
In addition to the traditional Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Japan's Suntory and other large factories, some Scottish small and medium-sized distilleries are also circulating in a small range of high-quality products; It is worth noting that foreign whisky is directly "killed at the doorstep", last year, Pernod Ricard's investment in the Diechuan malt whisky factory has been put into production, and Diageo's Eryuan whisky factory will also be completed.
Mainstream brands have strengthened their investment and layout, which stems from their optimism about the continuous growth of the domestic whisky market this year. Of course, in the face of various changes in the market, Daqin Whisky is also laying out new production capacity construction. Ye Zhenbo said that this year, Guangdong's first single malt whisky distillery will be built at the foot of Nankun Mountain in Longmen, Huizhou (the environmental impact assessment was approved by the Huizhou Environmental Protection Bureau on December 28 last year), and construction will start after the Spring Festival.
Guangdong Daqin Whisky Distillery covers an area of more than 370 acres, with a construction area of about 300,000 square meters, and the factory has 8 whisky production lines, with an annual output of 20,000 kiloliters (more than 18,300 tons), and is expected to be the world's largest single malt whisky distillery after completion. ”
Ye Zhenbo told the reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society that the choice of building a factory at the foot of Nankun Mountain, in addition to the local natural climate and environment suitable for whisky brewing and maturation and high-quality water sources, there are also convenient transportation (including the Guanghe Expressway, Wushen Expressway, and the planned construction of the Guanghe high-speed railway, etc.), as well as the huge consumer market in Guangdong, are important conditions for choosing to build a factory, for us, it is a very good choice to build a whisky distillery in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which is not only in response to the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, the provincial ** The 1310' deployment to do a good job in the industry, but also to support the development of Huizhou's manufacturing industry, to do a good job in the real economy, but also to meet people's pursuit of a better life, which is an important reason why Guangdong Daqin Whisky chose to build a factory in Nankunshan, Longmen County. ”
Help the revitalization of Cantonese wine
It will launch a joint product "urban wine" with Nandu
It is understood that as one of the world's well-known types of spirits, whisky also has strong cultural attributes behind it, which is not only the historical factor of whisky itself, but also the "story" that attracts consumers and fans. Ye Zhenbo also has a deep understanding of this.
Ye Zhenbo cites the visit to the Kamalan Distillery in Yilan County, Taiwan, China, which is considered to be the most visited whisky distillery in the world, which received more than 1 million visitors in 2018In addition to covering about 10 million people in the 5-hour circle, it is also related to the location chosen and the dissemination of cultural stories.
In fact, many people who do not know or know little about whisky, after visiting the distillery, will basically be interested in whisky, which has a very big effect on the subsequent cultural transmission and consumption, so Guangdong Daqin Whisky Distillery will use top equipment, and use high-quality malt production, and at the same time develop more single malt whisky more suitable for our Chinese taste. ”
Ye Zhenbo expects that in addition to undertaking production, Guangdong Daqin Whisky Distillery will also provide industrial tourism to spread whisky culture, etc., "If it is copied to Guangdong Daqin according to this range, we expect to be in the distillery 1."The five-hour circle can reach nearly 60 million people, and it is estimated that our winery can expect to receive 1.5 million to 2 million people per year." In addition, he also said that in addition to his existing Nankunshan Genting Hot Spring Whisky Hotel, it will also be linked with Guangdong Daqin Whisky Distillery in the future, and will also undertake part of the whisky culture and theme communication.
In addition to the construction of the whisky distillery, the reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Society also noticed that this year's Daqin whisky has made a lot of moves in the market, for example, in March this year, the company will set up a booth in Chengdu Sugar and Wine Fair, and at the same time, it will also jointly launch a co-branded product "urban liquor" with the south, according to Ye Zhenbo, the urban wine to be launched is launched in 5 bottles of gift boxes, a bottle of about 55ml, two of which are products that have won the gold medal in the WWA. It is to let the majority of consumers know about Chinese whisky."
In fact, Guangdong is a national wine consumption highland, how local wine companies in the local market to "fight their way out" has always been the direction of related enterprises, and the Guangdong Wine Industry Association has put forward the slogan of "Guangdong wine revitalization". In this regard, Ye Zhenbo said that in the process of revitalizing Cantonese liquor, whisky produced in Guangdong can also become an important starting point for the revitalization of Cantonese liquor, "whether it is local liquor, whiskey or other types of liquor, Guangdong should be able to make Cantonese liquor that can be recognized by the national market."
Written by: Nandu Bay Finance Society reporter Beibei.