[Source] – The Indian Wine Academy

After partnering with France during this year’s show, the 3-day Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair that concluded successfully last week, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council which organises the show has announced that Australia will be the partner country next year.

An agreement between the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) and the HKTDC was signed last week, following the number of exhibitors taking part this year. Australia was the country with the largest representation at the show with 65 participants.

Fred Lam, executive director of the HKTDC, said: “It seems fitting that when it comes to announcing our partner country for next year we are passing the baton from the Old World to the New World,” France was the partner country during the second edition.

Australia is Hong Kong’s fourth-largest supplier of wine and the value of imports from Australia to Hong Kong between January and September this year increased by 22% compared with the same period last year, according to Drinks Business.

India also showed a decent presence with ten wineries present- Sula, Grover, Indage, UB, Vintage, Big Banyan, d’Ori, Deccan Plateau, Renaissance, and Empire. Mrs. V. Kotwal, CEO of the Indian Grape Processing Board which organised the producers, was very satisfied with the response and hopes that next year will see a bigger participation at the show. The constant stream of people at the Indian stand was quite encouraging.

A group of importers had also visited the show under the banner of Indian Wine Academy and most were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the show, the seminars, amount of wineries present and the business possibilities that came up.

Next year’s Fair will be a big test of the prowess as the Vinexpo Hong Kong also lands up during the same year.

Research and Markets: Revealing the Impact the Global Financial Crisis Has Had on China’s Food and Beverage Industry

In the fist half of 2009, China above-scale food industry accumulatively achieved RMB2.299 trillion of total output value, up 14.76% compared to the same period of last year, of which, the agricultural non-staple food processing industry’s rose 15% to RMB1260.646 billion, the food processing industry’s increased 14.55% to RMB407.909 billion, and the beverage manufacturing industry’s rose 18.92% to RMB348.186 billion.

Impacted by the global financial crisis, the food and beverage industry’s operating revenue changed from rapid growth momentum to downturn in H2 2008. During Jan-Feb 2009, the revenue of the overall food and beverage industry increased only 14% year on year, 23 points lower than that of Jan-Feb 2008, recording new low in recent years. The growth rate in Jan-May 2009 rebounded a little to 15%.

In the past several years, the operating revenue of the food processing industry, one sub-industry of the whole food and beverage industry, has grown faster than that of the other two sub-industries, food manufacturing and beverage manufacturing. Due to the price decline of meat products (mainly pork), the food manufacturing industry rebounded slowly during the financial crisis, while the beverage manufacturing industry showed certain decline-resistance ability, whose operating revenue rebounded steadily during Jan-May 2009, up 16% year on year, 1 point higher than the figure in Jan-Feb 2009 and higher than the average level of the whole food and beverage industry. Taking Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd for example, its liquor output in H1 2009 was 23,833 tons, up 35.9% year on year; its sales revenue went up 20% to RMB5.5 billion and net profits rose 25% to RMB2.8 billion.

In H1 2009, the high-alcohol Moutai liquor products took 84.27% of the company’s operating revenue, while the low-alcohol liquor products accounted for 9.63%.

Based on the authoritative statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the China National Food Industry Association, China Alcoholic Drinks Industry Association, Dairy Association of China, etc, this report makes an in-depth analysis of the status quo of China’s food and beverage industry and its influencing factors, giving priority to the analysis and research of its eight sub-industries on market scale, industry concentration, regional distribution, economic benefits, production & sales as well as growth space. Besides, It also predicts the future development trends of the industry.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Food and Beverage Classification and Research Scope
2 Development of China Food and Beverage Industry
3 Segmented Industries
4 Regional Development
5 Key Listed Companies
6 Development Trends and Prospect of China Food and Beverage Industry

Companies mentioned in the report include:

- Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd (600519)
- Wuliangye Co., Ltd (000858)
- uzhou Lao Jiao Co., Ltd (000568)
- Shanxi Xinghuacun Fen Wine Factory Co., Ltd (600809)
- Hebei Hengshui Laobaigan Liquor Co., Ltd (600559)
- Sichuan Swellfun Co., Ltd (600779)
- Yantai Changyu Pioneer Wine Co., Ltd (000869)
- Beijing Yanjing Brewery Co., Ltd (000729)
- Tsingtao Brewery Co., Ltd (600600)
- Zhejiang Guyue Longshan Shaoxing Wine Co., Ltd (600059)
- Shanghai First Provision Co., Ltd (600616)
- SDIC Zhonglu Fruit Juice Co., Ltd (600962)
- Bright Dairy & Food Co., Ltd (600597)