Liu Haifeng, Vice President of 009 Lingjiu: Rice Wine Will Definitely Become a "Super Category" | WISE2024 King of Business
The environment is constantly changing, and the times are always evolving. The "Business Kings" follow the trend of the times, insist on creation, and seek new driving forces. Based on the current great transformation of the Chinese economy, the WISE2024 Business Kings Conference aims to discover the truly resilient "Business Kings" and explore the "right things" in the Chinese business wave.
From November 28 to 29, the two-day 36Kr WISE2024 Business Kings Conference was grandly held in Beijing. As an all-star event in the Chinese business field, the WISE Conference has now reached its twelfth edition, witnessing the resilience and potential of Chinese business in an ever-changing era.
2024 is a year that is somewhat ambiguous and where changes outweigh stability. Compared to the past decade, people's pace is slowing down, and development is becoming more rational. 2024 is also a year of seeking new economic momentum, and new industrial changes have put forward higher requirements for the adaptability of each subject. This year's WISE Conference takes "Hard But Right Thing" as its theme. In 2024, what is the right thing has become a topic we want to discuss more.
In the main venue on the afternoon of the 29th, Liu Haifeng, Vice President of 009 Lingjiu, delivered an excellent speech with the theme of "Doing Difficult but Right Things, Making a Bottle of Healthy Chinese Fine Wine for Users". Liu Haifeng stated that the Chinese wine industry has made global efforts for two or three decades, but "the road is long", and in 2023, the export volume of Chinese Baijiu accounted for only 2% - 3% of the total global alcohol exports.
Liu Haifeng, Vice President of 009 Lingjiu
Liu Haifeng said that the challenges faced by the Chinese wine industry are in multiple aspects. For young people, the taste, price, and social attributes of Baijiu are weakening, and only 12% of young people under the age of 30 will choose Baijiu. The older generation of Baijiu drinkers can't drink as much either. According to the survey, nearly half of the people over the age of 40 said that for the sake of their health, they would actively control their alcohol consumption. And some foreigners also find it difficult to accept the spiciness of Chinese Baijiu.
In Liu Haifeng's view, for the sustainable and healthy development of Chinese wine enterprises, the most important thing is to be user-centered, deeply understand the needs and pain points of users, in order to find the right direction and do the right things. Users need wine that smells good, tastes good, is easy to get slightly drunk, is not easy to get drunk, and does not make them feel uncomfortable even if they are drunk.
Based on this insight, 009 Lingjiu chose to enter from the rice wine category. Liu Haifeng said that rice wine is the oldest wine in the world, but the past products generally had problems, such as rough craftsmanship, headaches after drinking, chaotic prices, and a lack of a sense of value. However, functionally, rice wine has very good nutritional value.
In Liu Haifeng's view, rice wine will surely become a super category, provided that continuous innovation is carried out. It is reported that 009 Lingjiu has innovated the rice wine production process, from the automated closed transfer and transportation system to the ultrasonic herbal raw liquid extraction technology, intelligent temperature control, nano membrane, and intelligent blending technology. The entire intelligent brewing production process is detailed into 45 procedures, 128 operation standards, and 298 quality control points, and it has more than 10 process innovation patents and has obtained the US FDA and various authoritative certifications.
According to Liu Haifeng's on-site revelation, 009 Lingjiu is developing a super high-end product, which is planned to be launched in the first half of next year.
The following is the verbatim record of the speech:
Liu Haifeng:Dear guests and friends, hello! I am Liu Haifeng from 009 Lingjiu. It is a great honor to participate in the WISE2024 Business Kings Conference as a representative of a wine enterprise, and I am also very grateful to the organizers for giving us this very rare opportunity to communicate and jointly dispel the confusion and do the right things. During the sharing just now, everyone was talking about the same thing, that is, doing difficult but right things. We also hope to make a bottle of healthy Chinese fine wine for users.
Data from the China Alcoholic Drinks Association shows that the total output of Chinese Baijiu in 2023 was 62.9 million kiloliters. How much was exported? 15,000 kiloliters, accounting for only 0.2%. Moutai, which has the largest export volume, had an operating income of 150.56 billion yuan in 2023, and the proportion of overseas revenue was 2.8%. Many of these are also exported and then sold domestically. The road for Chinese wine to go global is still long. In contrast, wines, beers, whiskeys, and various foreign alcohols are fiercely advancing in our market and are sought after by young people. The overseas business of some strong alcohol brands can account for more than 70%.
This is a very cruel reality for the Chinese wine industry and also a regret of the Chinese wine industry. In terms of the population, young people nowadays do not drink Baijiu anymore because of the taste, price, and the social attributes it represents. Only 12% of young people under the age of 30 will choose Baijiu. The older generation of Baijiu drinkers can't drink as much either. According to the survey, nearly half of the people over the age of 40 said that for the sake of their health, they would actively control their alcohol consumption. Among them, 30% of people drink less than 1/3 of what they did when they were young, or even less. Looking globally, foreigners also find it difficult to accept the spiciness of our Chinese Baijiu and almost do not drink Chinese Baijiu.
More than 80% of overseas testers said that it is difficult to accept the taste of our Chinese Baijiu. In 2023, the export volume of Chinese Baijiu accounted for only 2% - 3% of the total global alcohol exports. This is the result of the global efforts that the Chinese wine industry has made for two or three decades, but it is still a drop in the ocean. Therefore, this is the sorrow of the Chinese wine industry. Faced with such a reality, what should Chinese wine enterprises do as the right things? We believe that for the sustainable and healthy development of enterprises, the most important thing is to be user-centered, deeply explore why users drink, what their pain points are, what kind of wine young people want to choose, and think about what kind of Chinese wine can represent China to go global. Only by starting from here can we find the right direction to do the right things.
Liu Haifeng, Vice President of 009 Lingjiu
The current new generation of drinkers, including the post-80s, post-90s, and post-00s, is emerging. They are the new drinking population and they have brought new demands - low alcohol content, healthiness, and diversified flavor alcohols. Previously, we drank more for socializing and entertaining, but now young people prefer to enjoy the pleasure of drinking in a relaxed and pleasant environment. In summary, what do users need? They need a bottle of healthy Chinese fine wine that not only brings emotional pleasure but is also very friendly to people's health, easy to get slightly drunk, and does not make them feel uncomfortable even if they are drunk.
Let's take a look at the current business situation of the industry. The territory of the wine industry has basically been completed, the regional distribution has also been completed, and the production areas, brands, and patterns have basically been fixed. A few leading enterprises occupy the majority of the market share, and the survival pressure of small and medium-sized enterprises is very huge.
For the entire Chinese wine industry, the overall trend is downward. The production and sales of Chinese Baijiu, especially Baijiu, last year were half of that in 2016. Judging from the data of the first three quarters of this year, it will be even less this year. And the number of wine enterprises is also continuously decreasing, and enterprises have entered the stage of stock competition. Therefore, the Chinese wine industry has developed into a very involuted industry today. It is a red ocean and there is almost no way out. For us, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. We must open up a blue ocean in this red ocean.
As a wine enterprise, we are also a new force. We have to think about what others dare not think, do what others dare not do, and do difficult but right things. We have chosen the rice wine category to make a healthy and delicious rice wine for global users and create a leading brand of high-end rice wine in China. We firmly believe that as long as we adhere to long-termism and quality first, rice wine will surely become a super category.
The main classifications of rice wine include small sweet wines (sweet rice wine, fruit-flavored rice wine, etc.), as well as yellow rice wine, rice shochu, Chinese sake, etc. However, they generally have problems such as rough craftsmanship, headaches after drinking, chaotic prices, and a lack of a sense of value. In fact, rice wine is the oldest wine in the world and the pioneer of the world's wine-making history. It has a very deep historical heritage. After thousands of years of strict selection by our ancestors, it is also very friendly to people of various constitutions. Therefore, the wine that can truly represent China should not be Baijiu, but rice wine, because rice represents the spirit of us Chinese and the inheritance of us Chinese. Functionally speaking, especially rice wine brewed from glutinous rice, it has very good nutritional value and functions. Glutinous rice wine contains a variety of nutrients such as amino acids, glucose, and vitamins, especially a very high content of B vitamins. It can also stimulate the secretion of digestive glands, and it also contains various active substances that can dilate blood vessels. Vitamins and minerals also have beauty effects. In addition, rice wine contains a substance called β-sitosterol, which is effective in preventing cancer.
Why hasn't rice wine become the top trend at present? What is lacking is innovation. What innovations has our Lingjiu made? We make the wine low in alcohol content, healthy, and with diversified flavors. First of all, it is to adhere to integrity and innovation. 009 is derived from Lingjiu with a 3,000-year history. Lingjiu is the oldest wine, which can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The first wine production standard was the Lingjiu production method. From the Western Jin Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, Lingjiu has always been the imperial tribute wine and is also an intangible cultural heritage brewing technique. 009 has also been innovated according to the needs of contemporary users to rejuvenate the Chinese treasure of rice wine.
Since our establishment, we have established healthy drinking as the core concept of our company and are committed to developing healthy Chinese fine wine. We have given up the development of high-alcohol beverages because high-alcohol beverages can cause certain harm to human health. Therefore, we are committed to developing medium and low-alcohol beverages. We have collaborated with famous universities, including intangible cultural heritage inheritors and alcohol experts. It took us five years to develop our 27.5-degree rice wine. 009 Lingjiu carefully selects tribute glutinous rice, uses a unique glutinous rice step and process, takes the lead in introducing small molecule group weakly alkaline water for brewing, and independently develops a herbal koji formula to give the rice wine a unique flavor and health attribute. We have also created a unique technology of two fermentations, two distillations, three maturations, and six filtrations to make the wine healthy.
Some media once said that 009 Lingjiu is born to be an adventurer who embraces innovation and dares to challenge the conventional. If you come to our self-built winery in Hunan, you can also see that 009 Lingjiu is using technology to empower production and create a new benchmark for the productive forces in the wine industry. From our automated closed transfer and transportation system to the ultrasonic herbal raw liquid extraction technology, intelligent temperature control, nano membrane, and intelligent blending technology, we have detailed the entire intelligent brewing production process into 45 procedures, 128 operation standards, and 298 quality control points. Moreover, we have more than 10 process innovation patents and have also obtained the US FDA and various authoritative certifications. The raw materials of 009 Lingjiu are simple and healthy, and it has two advantages that other alcohols cannot compare. First, it tastes good at any alcohol content. 009 also has products with 3 degrees, 6 degrees, 9 degrees, and 16 degrees. Second, without any additives, it can create a taste like dry white wine, whiskey, brandy, and vodka. We hope to embrace customer needs and make the wine flavors more diversified.
Since its launch, 009 Lingjiu has been loved by many users with its advantages of "good smell, good taste, healthier, friendly to the body, and controllable slight intoxication". It is also particularly suitable for mental workers in the technology industry. 009 can make people enter a realm like a poem, a dream, and a fairyland. Currently, we are also developing a super high-end product that can surpass Japan's Juyondai Ryusen and is planned to be launched in the first half of next year. 009 Lingjiu wants to make a healthy Chinese fine wine for the world, do difficult but right things, and leave the rest to time. We firmly believe that as long as we adhere to long-termism and quality first, rice wine will surely become a super category. We look forward to healthy Chinese wine being able to delight the world.
Taking this opportunity, I also sincerely invite everyone to be a guest at 009 Lingjiu. Our headquarters is in Beijing, and the winery is in Hengyang, Hunan. I hope everyone can come to taste and feel the unique taste of our high-end Chinese rice wine, and I also hope to have more opportunities to communicate with everyone in the future. Finally, let's do difficult but right things together. Thank you all!