Young Chinese wine drinkers driving 'fundamental' change
Date£º
2015-05-18 14:30 Source£º
decanter Author:
Richard Woodard Translator:
A power shift in China¡¯s imported wine market has seen a switch from traditional, high-end wine connoisseurs to younger and more casual drinkers, says a new study.
There were several younger drinkers present at last year's Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter.
According to Wine Intelligence¡¯s China Portraits 2015 report, a brand new wine consumer segment has emerged since its last study in 2012: Developing Drinkers, typically younger and less involved consumers who tend to buy wine at mainstream or entry-level prices.
These people are more likely to be graduates, working in high-earning professions and in their late 20s or early 30s, who have picked up the wine-drinking habit at business dinners, but are now drinking wine in their social lives too.
¡®Over the past three years, the Chinese market for imported wine has begun a fundamental transformation,¡¯ said Wine Intelligence COO Richard Halstead.
¡®We are moving from the era where prestige wine was only bought as a face-enhancing gift towards a world where consumers care more about how it tastes ¨C because they will be drinking it themselves ¨C and how much it costs, because they are more likely to be paying for it themselves as well.¡¯
The study of just over 2,000 urban upper middle class imported wine drinkers suggested that Developing Drinkers account for about 19% of the country¡¯s imported wine drinking population.
The report also pinpoints five other consumer types or ¡®Portraits¡¯ among China¡¯s estimated 38m imported wine drinkers: Adventurous Connoisseurs, Prestige-seeking Traditionalists, Social Newbies, Health Sippers and Frugal Occasionals.