During the Wine and Sugar Fair held in Chengdu in March this year, many wine companies showcased their newly launched “clear bottle wine” products, which are wines that come only in a bottle without fancy packaging, also known as white bottle wine or naked bottle wine, with more affordable prices. Industry experts indicated that the expansion of first-tier famous wine channels has brought immense pressure of competition to regional wine factories.
The wine companies that released clear bottle wines include Luzhou Laojiao, Anhui Gujing Gong, and other first-tier companies. According to a report from “Phoenix Weekly Finance” on April 3, Luzhou Laojiao’s clear bottle wine, Luzhou Laojiao Er Qu (2025 Edition), is priced at around 65 yuan (RMB); Anhui Gujing Gong introduced Gujing Gong Wine – 8th Generation at 80 yuan per bottle and Gujing Gong Wine – Old Porcelain Gong at 45 yuan per bottle; Jiangsu Yanghe Co. launched high-performance clear bottle wines at 59 yuan and 99 yuan.
The “2024 China Baijiu Market Mid-Term Research Report” published by the China Baijiu Association showed that from January to June 2024, the top three best-selling price ranges in the baijiu market were 300-500 yuan, 100-300 yuan, and below 100 yuan per bottle. Among them, the 100-300 yuan and below 100 yuan price ranges are the main ones covered by clear bottle wines currently available in the market.
A regional wine company in Sichuan province stated, “Our clear bottle wine is priced at 98 yuan, which is relatively high within the industry. The significant push from large enterprises in the clear bottle wine sector still greatly impacts us.”
This wine company primarily focuses on supplying original wines to several well-known wine companies, and its current product range covers prices from 100 to 1500 yuan.
Furthermore, at this year’s Wine and Sugar Fair, the overall trend of wholesale price reduction by wine companies has become prominent. While renowned wine companies are following this trend, some small and medium-sized wine enterprises have to offer more significant discounts to find their place in the market.
The responsible person from the Sichuan regional wine company mentioned earlier commented, “We will provide distributors with more profits since our brand influence is still not significant in the market. Currently, there is a high inventory pressure because the wine produced now generally needs three years to mature before being sold, requiring cash flow support, which is not friendly to small and medium-sized enterprises.”
Wine industry independent commentator Xiao Chuzhu analyzed, “The consumption downgrade of high-end baijiu consumers is evident, as those who used to drink 53% Feitian Maotai now opt for Maotai 1935, and consumers of Wuliangye and Guojiao 1573 choose 400 yuan Fenjiu ‘Fen 20’ or even the 50 yuan Bofen wine. The downward expansion of first-tier famous wine channels has imposed significant competition pressure on regional wine factories. Additionally, top-tier wine enterprises are focusing on high-performance rice wine within the hundred yuan range, squeezing the survival space of county-level small wine factories.”
In response to this, a netizen on Tencent commented, “This is the essence of drinking, not about the packaging. Fancy wine boxes cost between seven to twenty yuan, which is wasteful as the boxes are not edible and waste resources.”
Another netizen, “Shiquanweng,” expressed, “I feel that nowadays the decoration of wine bottles is more valuable than the wine itself. I have an old friend who collects various wine bottles for joy.”
However, some netizens believe that the main reason for the stagnation of baijiu sales is the economic downturn and people having less money.
“Yangy” said, “People simply don’t have money. Even the best wine won’t be consumed.”
Tencent user r9gxc9j also added, “In simple terms, it’s consumption downgrade, combined with young people not drinking baijiu, making it even more challenging for (wine companies) next year.”