Building roads for Wine in China w/ Ian Ford & Nichole Mao, Nimbility Asia

Navigating a very fragmented and dynamic Chinese wine market is challenging. Ian Ford, Founding Partner, and Nichole Mao, Partner of Nimbility Asia, help guide wineries to the right pathways for import partners and building demand in China. They also discuss how important domestic Chinese wine production is, the market for US wine in China, and the importance of wine education.  Support the show on Patreon!Detailed Show Notes: Wine buying is very fragmentedAn importer can sell direct, with no middlemenWith few regulations, one can buy wine everywhere, e.g., supermarkets, distributor friends, wine barsOnline ordering important, ~10-20%, WeChat, Alibaba, Jing Dong"Go to retailers"Sam's Club - known for wine sales to the mass marketLeading grocery stores - Jing Dong, HemaPromoting and selling in ChinaChinese social media platforms have integrated e-commerce (e.g., WeChat vs. Whatsapp, Douyin vs. TikTok), so people can immediately click and buyKOLs get commission or paid upfront to promote, lifestyle influencers are importantTraditional wine media stays w/in the wine trade and doesn't reach the mass marketNeed good importer(s) for availability, no longer need to be exclusiveView importers as partners, 1,000s of active importers, e.g., DTC importers (Vine Hu, Wiki Wines), big guys (ASC, Summergate, Torres) have extensive sales teams, operate omnichannelWine trials are necessary - tastings at festivals, grocery stores, etc.Word of mouth is increasing in importance - as large KOLs are now often paid, people relying on smaller KOLs in their network moreDomestic productionMajority consumed in China, exports growing off a small baseBoutique wineries (50-100k bottles) - looking at more exports, most in Ningxia, the premium winegrowing regionGuochao movement ("national wave") - Chinese supporting domestic brandsUS wine in China9th largest by volume, 6th by valuePunitive tariffs hit imports, tariffs are more than tariffs, but a signal by the gov't not to buy the wines becomes a stigmaUS wine doesn't have the legacy or prestige of Bordeaux, Burgundy, or Tuscany, but have the pricesPremium US producers are American centric not good at exports (Ridge being an exception)Import dutiesIncluding import, consumption, and VAT duties and taxesThree levels: Free Trade - ~26% - Chile, NZ, Australia (previously); wines ~1x US priceBaseline - ~48.5% - France, Italy; wines ~1.5x US pricePunitive - US, Australia (now); wines ~2x US priceAustralia went off a cliff since tariffs - France benefitted the most, then New Zealand and South AfricaWine Education important for growthChina's #2 largest student registration for WSETWSET had to stop in 2021 due to a corporate registration issue - almost back up and running Get access to library episodes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.