Bottom line: Wuliangye’s new tie-up with Brown-Forman continues its drive to diversify and create new products for younger consumers, which could help it emerge as a leader when liquor makers emerge from their current downturn.
Brown-Forman links with Wuliangye
It’s not often that I get to write about foreign company involvement in China’s traditional liquor industry, which is largely closed to overseas investment and is also quite fragmented and filled with pitfalls due to dominance by local interests. So I was quite excited to read a new report saying Brown-Forman (NYSE: BF-B), a major US liquor maker whose brands include Jack Daniels whiskey, has teamed up with leading Chinese spirits maker Wuliangye (Shenzhen: 000858) to develop new products for emerging markets. Read Full Post…
It’s been nearly a year since makers of the traditional Chinese liquor called baijiu were hit by a double-whammy created by a food safety scandal and a Beijing crackdown on lavish government spending, sending the sector into a prolonged winter. Media are focusing on this one-year anniversary to chart the recent woes of top names like Moutai (Shanghai: 600519) and Wuliangye (Shenzhen: 000858) and talk about what they can do to turn things around. My view is that these companies are in dire need of an image makeover, which should include development of newer, lower alcohol products and major marketing campaigns targeting a generation of younger professionals in major cities. Read Full Post…
