After dealers dye “white” from “red”, will they dye “yellow” in the next step?
“Ask the world, is this mountain the highest? Or is there another high place higher than the sky.”
The theme song in the legend of the carving hero on the sword of Huashan is no stranger to people born in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, the lyrics are appropriately used in the price of China’s high-end and ultra-high-end beer.
Last year, a double bottled beer gift box “Li” priced at 999 yuan rushed to Sina hot search, with many commentators. In particular, Hou Xiaohai, chairman and general manager of China Resources Snow Beer (China) Co., Ltd., the leader of this bottle of wine, said that “putting Li and Maotai together is not inconsistent at all”, which triggered a heated discussion.
Half a year later, Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited(600600) the first batch of ultra-high-end art collection new products “Legend I” were unveiled before the Spring Festival. The capacity of 1.5L bottle was priced at 1099 yuan. According to the manufacturer, only 4000 bottles were filled in the first batch. On the day of its release on January 9, the thousand yuan beer, which looks like champagne, was brushed in the circle of friends.
“There is no highest, only higher.” Before the high-profile appearance of Tsingtao beer and super high-end beer, on January 8, Budweiser investment (China) Co., Ltd. released Budweiser master’s legendary year of the tiger limited edition in official micro Budweiser China. The price of a bottle of 798ml is as high as 1588 yuan. Its retail guide price exceeds the market guide price of 53 degrees and 500ml Feitian Maotai according to the manufacturer’s requirements. According to Budweiser, the output of the wine is only 2400 bottles.
From last year to the beginning of this year, China’s ultra-high-end beer has been put into spring from one branch alone, and the number of players crowded into the ultra-high-end camp has also increased from one to three. At the end of last year, He Yong, Secretary General of China Wine Association and chairman of beer branch, said at the China Resources Snow Beer supplier conference that last year was the first year of high-end beer in China. Beer industry out of the bottom of the landmark year, beer ushered in the real value return era, the volume and price rise together. He estimated that the total output of beer last year was 35.3 million kiloliters, a year-on-year increase of 3.5%. The sales revenue was 1550 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.8%, and the profit was 17.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.7%. Beer ended the seven-year decline in production.
It is worth mentioning that the benefit improvement of beer has also been transmitted from manufacturers to channels. In the second half of last year, a businessman engaged in the operation of Maotai Town sauce and wine told the 21st Century Business Herald that he did not make a lot of money on sauce and wine due to his late admission. He felt that in addition to Maotai liquor dealers and big merchants, the profit margins of small sauce liquor dealers were constantly squeezed. Therefore, he began to look for a mainstream beer product with better market performance to lay out a blank or weak market.
Is the good day for beer to make money really coming? Is a thousand yuan bottle of beer a gimmick or a target for some consumers? After dealers dye “white” from “red”, will they dye “yellow” in the next step?
“worship quality brewing”
Can you make a more complex and personalized beer? This idea has haunted Huang Kexing, chairman of Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited(600600) for many years.
Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited(600600) is the only enterprise with national key laboratory in China’s beer industry. This idea is tantamount to pushing the flavor of beer to the extreme. For the “technical school” in the beer industry, challenging yourself is the most difficult.
On January 9, in the Centennial cellar of Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited(600600) Centennial factory, the super high-end beer “Legend of the first world” was taken out of the leather box and unveiled. The 1.5-liter large capacity is like a champagne bottle, except that the bottle has an ice pattern design. Open the champagne cap and follow the “bang”! With the sound of a cork, the amber wine poured into the wine glass, and the foam was rich and fragrant.
Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited(600600) super high-end beer legend quiet / photo
This is a wine that has broken through many boundaries, integrating the century old traditional technology of beer with the special practices of whisky, wine and champagne. Its full name is whole wheat strong tongulag.
The shelf life of beer is often as short as a few months. The best tasting period of this wine is 3 years; Beer on the market is fermented in stainless steel tanks. Legend I uses the old oak barrels used to brew whisky in North America to complete secondary fermentation and barrel aging, which is similar to the fermentation process of wine; Whisky only uses one kind of light malt. Tsingtao Beer uses some special malt with special flavor and light malt to make the raw materials more complex; Packaging draws on the shape of champagne, and the amount of carbon dioxide in the bottle is the same as champagne, which opens up a lot of bubbles.
“We still worship quality brewing and natural brewing.” Dong Jianjun, vice president of Tsing beer manufacturing and director of the State Key Laboratory of beer biological fermentation engineering, said.
According to him, this beer was created by hundreds of brewing masters in inheritance, including German wheat masters and chief technical masters of the world’s largest hops group. A hundred year old yeast was used in the process to return to the ancient method of “two stage low temperature and slow ripening”. The hundred year old whisky oak barrel was used to store only the wort extract and prolong the fermentation time by three times. “Legend I” has experienced more than 1400 days of grinding, 61 rounds of test brewing experiments, more than 1000 rounds of tasting, 146 times of taste optimization and more than 1800 quality inspection checkpoints.
Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited(600600) old barrels of North American whisky in Centennial cellar quiet / photo
“Products or services that exceed consumers\’ expectations are charm quality.” Huang Kexing once said at the launching ceremony of “quality month” in Shandong Province last year that from the demand side, it is guided by the progressive demand of consumers. The demand includes basic, evolving demand and potential and untapped demand. To tap the potential demand, we rely on the charm quality of the supply side to replace the characteristic quality and basic quality.
“Super high-end products are no longer material products to meet people’s happiness, but works of art that bring spiritual sublimation through the pursuit of the ultimate flavor of craftsmanship.” He Yong said that to sublimate the craft to the extreme is art. This is an elaborate work of Tsingtao beer, which inherits the brewing technology for a century, and an initiative to redefine the cultural attribute of beer.
“High-end products are a very important step in high-quality development. Our R & D is not only product R & D, but also technology R & D, such as improving production efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.” Tung Chee Jun said.
what are the selling points of ultra-high end?
Legend I is not the first bottle of beer in China with a retail price of more than 1000 yuan.
As early as January 8, Budweiser investment (China) Co., Ltd. released Budweiser master’s legendary year of the tiger limited edition in official micro Budweiser China. A bottle of 798ml is worth 1588 yuan, which exceeds the manufacturer’s guidance price of Feitian Maotai liquor of 1499 yuan. It is currently the king of single bottle price of beer in China.
Official micro screenshot of master legend Tiger Limited Edition released by Budweiser China
In May last year, China Resources Snow Beer launched a beer Li gift box at Beijing Guanfu Museum. The price of two bottles was 999 yuan, nearly 1000 yuan, opening the super high-end era of Chinese beer.
In many people’s impression, beer is as light as water and is even called “water beer”. In more than 10 years of light beer dominating the world, the emergence of refined beer has made Chinese people taste different tastes, but the price is far less expensive. What is a thousand yuan bottle of beer? Is the price artificially high or value for money?
The 21st Century Business Herald reporter compared the three top beers on the market. Although the selling points are different, the legend of the first world and the Budweiser tiger year limit are all rag categories.
“Physical and chemical indicators can not fully represent the characteristics of high-end or ultra-high-end. But from ultra-high-end beer, we can see many breakthroughs in indicators.” On January 12, a technician who participated in the research and development of ultra-high-end beer told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter on the phone.
First look at the original wort concentration. In the limit of Li, Legend I and Budweiser tiger year, the maximum limit of Legend I is 23.9p °, and the limit of Li and Budweiser tiger year are 18.8p ° and 18p ° respectively.
Look at the alcohol level. Budweiser, which has also used barrels, has the highest annual limit of 10.8% vol, followed by Legend I ≥ 10.5% vol, and Li ≥ 8% Vol.
The above technicians said that there is a certain relationship between wort concentration and alcohol degree, especially in high concentration fermentation at 24 and 25 degrees, which will test the technical level. When the wort concentration is high, the fermentation speed is slow, because yeast eats sugar slowly. Therefore, it is the most difficult for Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited(600600) to make beer with high alcohol precision at the high concentration of 23.9p °.
But she also believes that technically, 18p wort concentration can get the alcohol degree of high-end wine. Therefore, Budweiser’s wort concentration is “very flattering”.
Look at the chromaticity value. Li is up to 47, the legend of the first world is 32, and the annual limit of Budweiser tiger has not been announced. The 21st Century Business Herald reporter tasted Li and legend I. the beer in the glass was amber.
“In terms of chromaticity, because most of the beer we usually drink is gold and yellow. As a super high-end beer, the colors of burnt malt, red and amber are more beautiful, and the wine body is more mellow.” The above technicians said.
Super high-end wine also wrestles secretly on raw materials. The first legend is the whole malt. Budweiser’s tiger year limit adds black rice and rice to the malt. Li refers to the ancient method. In addition to malt, millet, barley and Lily are also added. Chinese traditional grains are deeply combined with beer brewing.
So, is it better to use whole wheat or excipients for super high-end beer?
“It’s like asking whether German beer or Belgian beer is better. One is the traditional beer brewing method, and the other can add other substances.” Some professionals told the 21st Century Business Herald that pure wheat products have higher Polyphenol Substances and heavy wort taste; Rice is more expensive than malt. The addition of accessories is to adapt to the taste of Chinese people and be more localized.
The shelf life of super high-end beer has its own length, but they are longer than ordinary beer.
In the eyes of technicians, Budweiser’s 12-month shelf life with 18p wort concentration is the shortest of the three super high-end beers, which can well ensure the stability of quality; The shelf life of Legend I is the longest, three years, and has the most collection value.
As for Li, the above technicians believe that drinking can create a slight sense of intoxication without going to the top, and the natural brewing wine has rich aroma, reflecting the high unity of cultural value and traditional brewing value.
He Yong once said that the beer we drink now is a modern western technology. In fact, the early beer we drink all over the world is a natural fermented beer similar to the “Li” style. Therefore, we cannot deny the value of the existence of early Chinese history and culture. Through China Resources Snow Beer, a leading enterprise in China’s beer industry, returning “Li” products with historical marks to today is not only a return of traditional culture, but also a manifestation of cultural confidence in China’s beer industry.
In this regard, many professionals said that a super high-end wine should contain multiple values, including brewing value, cultural value, collection value, artistic value, etc.
super high end test dealers
Rare is precious.
The 21st Century Business Herald reporter attended the launch conference of the first legend, with the first batch of 29999 bottles. Budweiser has the least annual limit of 2400 bottles.
From the perspective of channels, snow beer is sold through Li applet and e-commerce, Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited(600600) adopts the way of e-commerce and group purchase of offline dealers. Budweiser China is mainly sold in e-commerce, such as JD. Offline is mainly used for sales incentive, but the amount is very small.
Song caikang is a distributor of Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited(600600) high-end and ultra-high-end beer. His private enterprise is engaged in real estate, transportation and other businesses, and the liquor sector only makes beer. Since the listing of Tsingtao Beer amber lager last year, his company has achieved the leading sales in China. “The market guide price of 815ml Tsingtao Beer launched last year is 360 yuan, and the market price is 320 yuan and 330 yuan a bottle, which is very close to the guide price. This product has been in short supply.” Song caikang said that this year’s Mid Autumn Festival market can not get wine. His enterprise and brother units use a lot.
The 21st Century Business Herald reporter saw from Jingdong that the market price of 815ml Tsingtao beer in the gift box for the Centennial journey is at a premium, with a price of 389 yuan and two bottles of 738 yuan, all above the market guidance price. The price of the 815ml limited edition gift box of the year of the ox launched by the Centennial journey even doubled to 699 yuan.
“Making beer certainly makes money.” Song caikang told the 21st Century Business Herald that he has been making beer for six or seven years and feels very good. Taking the Centennial journey as an example, the manufacturer’s purchase price to the dealer is 169 yuan, and the profit is quite considerable. As for the legend of the first generation, he frankly said that the dealers have about 20% profit.
The 21st Century Business Herald reporter saw in Jingdong that the manufacturer’s first legend price of 1099 yuan / bottle was 2398 yuan / 2 bottles, with a premium of 100 yuan per bottle.
China Wine Association defines the development path of beer industry in the 14th five year plan, accelerates the development process of high-end beer, and encourages personalized and diversified development of products. Hou Xiaohai also said at Li’s press conference that China’s beer industry has changed greatly and improved a lot in quality and product development in recent years. China’s beer is not only no worse than others, but also most of them are better than others. Beer has its origin in history; Beer is cultural and has a high culture; Beer is valuable and of great value.
The channel profit of beer has attracted some sauce and wine dealers.
“Sauce wine has developed too fast in recent years. In addition to Kweichow Moutai Co.Ltd(600519) , several enterprises in the head have expanded too much, and the profit space of dealers has been squeezed, so it can\’t be done in the end.” In the second half of this year, dealers who cross into the sauce and wine category from wine told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that taking the products of China and Taiwan as an example, the retail price in the Guangzhou market is 350 yuan. Combined with the wine return policy, the price for group buyers to take wine is as high as 300 yuan, which will occupy millions of yuan a year.
“We sometimes sell the goods from China and Taiwan below the ex factory price in order to get the manufacturer’s rebate and subsidy. If the dealer’s profit from the price difference of pure products is only 2-3 points.” In Chengdu, some dealers selling Langjiu and Guotai told the 21st Century Business Herald that the product profit of Langjiu ranged from 3 to 5 points, plus the manufacturer’s delivery policy and year-end rebate. “With goods” is to reduce the dealer’s purchase price through rebate. For example, the dealer purchases 1 million yuan and the manufacturer returns 3% – 5%.
The dealer said that the strong sauce wine brand is actually kidnapping and squeezing dealers. The manufacturer will not discuss the price increase with the dealer. Only by purchasing in large quantities in advance can big merchants sell second-hand goods at the price after the price increase to obtain more profits, but the cost is to occupy a lot of money. “Only big business can play the sauce sauce plate, because the biggest profit of Baijiu dealers is actually from the time difference between new and old goods, and old goods can also be sold on a fixed price basis.” She calculated that the net profit margin of Langjiu was 8% – 10%.
But all products without quantity are hooligans.
The same is true for ultra-high-end products. “If there is no volume driven, then ultra-high-end products can only have strategic significance and make little contribution to enterprise profits.” A super high-end beer developer told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that, therefore, consumption, collection and gift giving are the markets targeted by beer giants.
Zhang Jie, a member of Huading Association of snowflake beer and a big businessman, told the 21st Century Business Herald that the cost of beer is fixed. It is entirely possible that one case of high-end and ultra-high-end beer can earn money for two or three cases or even five or six cases of ordinary beer. But there must be quantity.
So, is super high-end beer a marketing gimmick or a breakthrough in volume? This greatly tests dealers.
Zhang Jie frankly said that Li took the lead in breaking through the ceiling of beer, but because the training of super high-end products for dealers is not in place, sales in some places have not moved yet.
Song caikang said that he intends to tap the customer groups of foreign wine and wine, and sell the legend of the first generation through red wine channels, famous cigarettes and hotels, high-end red wine monopoly, enterprise group purchase, small tasting meetings, etc. “1000 yuan is the price of two bottles of mid-range wine, which is about the same as that of a bottle of Penfolds 407. But super high-end beer is scarce than Penfolds.” He said.
However, the 21st Century Business Herald reporter found that the super high-end products themselves emphasize too many selling points, which is easy to make dealers at a loss. For example, the legend of the first world, is it the outstanding barrel technology, or the ultra-high wort concentration, or the packaging of champagne shape or extraordinary chromaticity? What impact will these selling points have on the sense of mouth?
It is worth trying to match the catering and learn from the wine tasting meeting.
Last year, Carlsberg held a tasting of high-end beer Greenberg in Chongqing. Malt, hops, cinnamon and other rare raw material samples of consumers are placed on the dining table. Compared with preaching, consumers can smell them, which is more intuitive and impressive.
At the Li press conference, black gum beef shop, osmanthus cake and grapes were used with beer for the first time. The founder of Dadong Roast Duck Restaurant said on the spot that he hoped that the roast duck could match with Chinese “Li” to provide consumers with a better taste.
“In terms of quality, super high-end beer is still the carrier of culture. How to improve cultural cultivation other than sales skills is the biggest challenge faced by dealers at present. Cultural marketing may require the efforts of several generations.” Insiders said.
