It was not until recent that consumers started to give us compliments about how wine in a can could also be a great sell in China and around the world because of the environmental benefits of wine in a can.

If you go on a outdoor adventure and want to toast to a glass of wine in the middle of the wilderness, you will undoubtedly think it a hindrance to carry a heavy glass bottle of wine with you.  Furthermore, what do you do with the then empty glass bottle?  You must either take it back with you, or dispose of it and dirty the earth.  Well with a can of wine you can simply crush the can and slip it into a side pocket in your bag.

In this article from ScientistLive.com, Incept, a UK based consultancy firm also found that wine in a can

* Have half the CO2 transport related emissions of the equivalent 75cl wine sold in glass packaging.

* Wine, in both 200ml and 250ml cans, produces fewer transport related CO2 emissions than other packaging formats

* Compared to glass bottles, to save one tonne of CO2, only 5,330 cases of 250ml slim cans need to be sold

* Slim cans are up to 17p per litre cheaper than glass bottles and have 2 – 20 pence less cost per unit in the value chain

* Suppliers could save between 2 and 8 pence per unit

* Retailers savings are between 1 – 13 pence per unit

I pose a question to all readers… Would like some wine in a can?

Few people in China acknowledged Chile as a wine producing nation of any stature. The Chilean trade commission teamed up with Ogilvy Public Relations to change the situation with an informative online campaign.

Background
China offers huge potential for the wine industry, but being a young market, it is also full of confusion. A lack of knowledge often leads consumers to default to French wine and high prices to ensure quality while demonstrating the desired status that goes with drinking wine.

Aim
Recognizing the potential of the China market, Chile’s trade commission in Shanghai, ProChile, set out to help consumers understand that there is more to choosing wine than the price tag, and to present Chilean wine as an attractive, more affordable alternative to premium European wines.

Click here to access the case study

2. China learns to wine properly – GlobalTimes by Michael Gold

As the winter season rages on, don’t forget one of the best ways to keep warm during the chilly season: Curling up in front of a roaring fire with a thick woolen blanket and a big goblet of hot mulled wine in your hand.

This being China, however, you may have to substitute the wine for a shot of erguotou, but worry not, because the Chinese market for wine (a daily staple of most Westerners’ diet) has been skyrocketing along with the rest of the Chinese economy.

Though in the eyes of many independent wine importers, restauranteurs and connoisseurs, attitudes toward wine in China still have a long way to go if they’re to match the ethusiaism commonly associated with French tipplers.

Click here to access the complete article

3. Chinese Wine Labels No Longer Capture The Essence of Chinese Taste and Design

Guesses are, the concept of Chinese wine, taste, and design coinciding as a single concept never crosses one’s mind. A pretty smart guess. However, examining historic Chinese wine labels sheds some light on a unique design oriented past.

Not too long ago, Chinese wine connoisseurs had a diverse range of wine selections with amazingly intricate and detailed design packaging. But after foreign imported wines began entering the Chinese market, many of these wine brands died off, along with their special wine design aesthetic.

Click here to access the complete article

“Chile has proven itself a producer of some of the finest Sauvignon, Riesling, Pinot Noir and Cabernet blends in the world,” writes Adam Lechmere of Decanter.com.

Other highlights from the event include:

• International Trophies for Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Noir and Bordeaux Varietals all went to Chile at a glittering dinner in the Floral Hall at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

• The trophy for best Sauvignon Blanc Over £10 went to Undurraga’s TH from San Antonio, which judges described as ‘Crisp, herbal, grassy and zesty, appealing elegant and expressive.’

• Cono Sur’s Riesling won the Under £10 in that category, for its Bio Bio Valley Reserva 2008, with its ‘racy nose of lime, honey, grapefuit and ripe peach with hints of mineral and kerosene’.

• And for the fourth time in the past five years the Red Single Varietal trophy Under £10 went to an Argentinian Malbec: this year, the Malbec aka Rodolfo Sadler from Opi Sadler in Mendoza.

Click here for a full list of awards, including international trophy winners

Click here to read more about Decanter’s World Wine Awards from Adam Lechmere’s article “Chile triumphs at Decanter World Wine Awards,”

[Source] – Decanter.com

This article, “In China, taste for wine comes of age,” published by the Hindu is a interesting summary of Ananth Krishnan’s perspective on the ever developing Chinese wine palate.

I’ve copy and pasted a few excerpt for your viewing pleasure and I recommend checking out the full article by clicking here or on one of the other various links I’ve provided in this post.

Deep in the cellars of a sprawling industrial complex in China’s northern Hebei province, a row of giant steel vats runs as far as the eye can see. At first glance, they seem to be just another massive manufacturing plant in China’s northern industrial heartland. But the vats in this cellar do not hold chemicals or dyes. Each container holds some 1,000 tonnes of grapes, and this plant in Hebei’s Huailai County is at the heart of China’s wine revolution.

In China, even the business of wine, that most refined of indulgences, is all about quantity. The country now has the world’s fastest growing market for wine, with an estimated 600 million consumers. In 2007, Chinese wine consumption was estimated at a huge 800 million bottles. (India’s annual consumption is around 10 million bottles.)

The import of high-end European wines has been steadily rising in the affluent southern cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou. Now, more high-end boutique wines, set up as collaborations with European houses, have begun to emerge such as Grace Vineyards in Shanxi, which was set up by Spain’s well-known Torres wine house.

July 13 — New York City –> Beijing (12.5 hours on Continental’s direct flight.) Highly recommend anyone traveling to China from the New York City area and not obligated to any specific carrier book their ticket on this flight. You save between 4-8 hours in additional travel time / transfer time at airports. You do not risk missing a connecting flight, and the service on the plane is quite good for a US owned airline. The one negative side is the cranky American flight attendants, which you do not find if you’re traveling JAL, Cathay, Asiana, etc.

Arrival in Beijing was quick and easy. Customs allowed me to pass with more wine than I was probably legally allowed to bring, I recovered from jet lag quite fast and was out on the town showcasing our wines from Chile and Argentina by my second night.

After reconvening with Xu Wenquan, Mir Global Marketing’s director of sales in China/ Asia we set out a game plan for how to best approach diverse selection of potential buyers / contacts. We would need to fine tune our marketing strategy for three different market segments.

- Chinese government owned entities.

- Chinese entrepreneurs / business owners of bars and night clubs which cater China’s rising middle and upper class. In other words, the sons and daughters of wealthy Chinese who are looking to make a name for themselves and are have chosen to start a business. Not with the goal of attracting foreign customers (although they would not object), bur rather China’s new consumers looking for a good time and some nice drinks.

- Western operated and privately owned establishments in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. These type of businesses cater to China’s trendy, diverse, metropolitan cultures. I define this group as a mix of foreigners and urban Chinese you would find at a popular bar in a major city like Beijing.

Now, I present a few words of wisdom for those considering to do business in China. These are my own opinions, and I welcome those who would like to discuss any of these points. Please add your comments below or drop me a email, bennett.reiss (at) gmail.com

1. The more interaction you have with China, and the longer you stay, the more you realize how little you truly know and understand the country. Don’t think a mere semester or two of studying in China, speaking Chinese, reading books about “doing business in China,” foreign policy or cultural communication classes make you a expert. They do not.

2. What you learned in business school will not necessarily apply in China. You must cautiously and selectively archive into the back of your mind what you have come to accept as common business practices. What you learned in all those over-priced business classes will usually not apply in China. This is especially true when dealing with Chinese partners, be it from the private sector or a government owned entity.

3. Smile. Even if you are impatient, frustrated, mentally a mess, cranky, jet lagged, suffering from heart break, or angry with life itself… Smile and put a face that mixes happy, calm and confident all in one. The moment you allow what you have bottled up inside to show, vis-à-vis body language or with words, you have lost the battle. You will fail at negotiating a cheaper hotel, you will fail to convince your taxi driver to take the shorter route and you will fail in business negotiation. A calm, collected persona and a smile go a long way in China. Remember this.

4. Keep an open mind and remain flexible as to adapt to any given situation you face. It is popular in western cultures to look for a logical explanation for something you do not understand or a problem you may face. Westerners also tend to believe it is possible to control things like your schedule. Many times in China, there is no logical answer, and controlling things is quite difficult when you are operating in a country as complex and large as China. Accept this now, before you lose your mind, and therefore compromise all the elements I described above in point #3.

5. Dress to impress if you’re doing business. Even if its hot and humid, put on that suit and leave the tie and jacket behind. As they say, you only get one first impression. When you’re dealing with a Chinese businessman/ woman, it is incredibly important to do all in your power to make your first meeting as professional as possible.

** Reminder to all readers, opinions expressed in this entry are my own and should be not treated as fact. Thank you.

~ Bennett Reiss – International Trade Consultant at Mir Global Marketing LLC

A few months ago Sophie Kevany, a journalist for Decanter based in Lima, contacted me and explained she was writing an article on South American wine harvests.

[Courtesy of http://www.robgroh.com/maps.htm]

I was immediately interested due to a focus of her article being on wines from countries other than South America’s traditional producers. Her research has yielded a incredibly informative article, which you can access through clicking here.

In Brazil sparkling wine exports were up 18% in value for the first three months, with much of the wine going to America and Germany, Wines from Brazil said

Overall exports were also positive. Brazil aims to export US$6m this year, with US$2.3m already confirmed for January to April.

…

At the higher end there was also positive news. In Peru, Tacama ? which produces wines in the $10 to $40 bracket retail – said export values were up 10% in the first quarter.

Click here to access Sophie Kevany’s article in its entirety

Click here to check out Decanter.com — a great resource for keeping up to date with developments and new trends in the wine industry

Click here to follow Decanter.com’s news feed on Twitter

China’s wine imports are slowing reports HKTDC in this article. Wine imports increased a incredible 100% between 2006-2007 but slowed between 2008-2009, growing only 36%. None the less, total imports reached a impressive 6,389,439 cases, or 76,673,268 bottles of wine, making China the world’s largest wine import market (once again according to this HKTDC article).

Despite the slow down, the macro picture of China’s wine market is still overwhelming positive for wine exporters, especially for lower cost producers in the Southern Hemisphere.

The challenge for Argentinean and Chilean producers will be to figure out a way in which to take advantage of a more conservative and cost conscious Chinese consumer in the midst of the global economic downturn.

The HKTDC article, is of the opinion that the biggest winner from slowing wine imports will be China’s domestic producers. While this may be partially true, Mir Global Marketing Co., attributes the rise in the consumption of domestically produced Chinese wine to other far more significant market factors.

1) The global slowdown has forced consumers around the world to cut back on luxury spending and to be more cost conscious. For the Chinese wine consumer who has yet to develop their wine pallet and is exploring wine for their first time, it makes sense they would economically rationalize to spend 20 rmb on a Chinese bottle versus 120 rmb on a French bottle.

2) Wine demand in China can partially be attributed to the symbolism behind wine. As the great American author Ernest Hemingway once said, “Wine is the most civilized thing in the world.” If you are a Chinese consumer who has yet to develop your personal wine preferences and are trying to network in the business or political world where it is a good thing to appear “sophisticated,” you might be able to accomplish this with a Chinese bottle of wine. So, why invest in a expensive French or Italian bottle of wine?

Although, if a lower-middle class university student was about to meet with the head of Google’s Recruiting Office in Beijing, and had never tasted wine in his/her life, I think it would justify dipping into your savings for a French bottle of wine. But, if you’re simply going out for a nice drink with some friends on a Friday night to the Beijing’s bar district, splitting a bottle of French wine when you don’t know what you’re tasting will not be a common site.

To further explain:

A considerable amount of wine demand in China is generated from a new elite class of consumers with considerable spending power who can afford expensive wines and liquors. This includes, the rising class of sophisticated, metropolitan consumers in cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Businessmen and women. Politicians. Wealthy university students. Chinese who have lived abroad. And of course, foreigners living or visiting China.

However, the majority of China’s new wine consumers can not afford to indulge in relatively expensive bottles of wine, especially in times of economic uncertainty. What is more likely to occur is the new middle class consumers in 2nd and 3rd tier Chinese cities like Harbin, Dalian, Suzhou, Chongqing, Kunming, Taiyuan, etc will attempt to emulate (the best they can) China’s new class of rising elites.

This has been the case in societies around the world since the dawn of civilization.

The main difficulty for Argentine and Chilean producers at the moment is convincing the very brand conscious Chinese to trust the quality of their products. France remains synonymous with quality when it comes to wine, while wines from Italy, Australia and Chile have had to struggle for years to build a trusting image with Chinese consumers.

Opportunity has come knocking at the door. Before you answer, just make sure you and your company are ready.

Bennett Reiss – International Trade Consultant at Mir Global Marketing Co.

China’s Wine Imports Slowing — HKTDC

“China has always been the biggest market of wine imports globally. However, the situation is changing. With the rise of China’s domestic wine production, China’s import of wine is on a downward turn.

After world renowned brands Hennessy, Remy Martin and Martell, Courvoisier’s Napoleon wine, one the four top-class brands of wine in the world has announced its formal entry into the Chinese market. Not long ago, Hennessy announced the debut of its Iridescence, a world classic type X.O. on the China market, alleging that China was its biggest consumption market for the first time.

Although various brands of imported wine products have poured into China’s market, the import growth has slowed down. According to statistics from the customs, China’s import of packed wine of less than two litres slowed down its growth last year, and the import of wine in packaging of more than two litres has stayed at the same level for three successive years. After hefty rises of about 100% in the 2006-2007 period, China’s import of wine was 6,389,439 cases of packages of less than two litres (nine litres per case), rising 36% year on year.

The increase of raw materials for wine production has weakened China’s dependence on import. With the expansion of planting areas for grapes, the raw materials for wine production have increased gradually. However, with increasing expansion of China’s wine market, there will be more and more foreign brands of wine entering the China market, indicating more fierce competition for China’s wine- making industry in the coming years. “