With liquor enterprises pouring into the market one after another, can the new-style bulk liquor stores take up the banner of driving the incremental growth of baijiu?
For bulk liquor dispensing stores to become a stable growth driver in the Baijiu industry, they must prioritize quality, build differentiated features, expand consumption scenarios, convert "one-time trial consumption" into "habitual consumption", so as to solve the repurchase dilemma.
The entire Baijiu industry is going through a harsh winter, yet bulk liquor dispensing stores are booming.
During the National Day holiday, Yanghe's first trendy bulk liquor dispensing store opened, and the Gujing Bulk Liquor Dispensing Store flagship store at Luogang Central Park also launched trial operation. In fact, the layout of bulk liquor dispensing stores by Baijiu enterprises is no longer a new thing. The three leading Anhui Baijiu producers, Sichuan Baijiu sector, Henan Baijiu camp and other groups have successively made efforts in this track. Baijiu enterprises have unanimously "bent down" to engage in bulk liquor business, making the seemingly traditional format of bulk liquor dispensing stores once again the focus of the industry.
This wave of store openings is not accidental, and behind it is the Baijiu industry in a period of in-depth adjustment. In the first half of 2026, the operating revenue of 21 listed Baijiu enterprises fell by 18.03% year-on-year, the net profit attributable to shareholders fell by 22.48% year-on-year, and the output of Baijiu continued the downward trend since 2017. Under the pressure of the main business, Baijiu enterprises are in urgent need of finding new growth outlets, and bulk liquor dispensing stores have thus been pushed to the forefront.
Then, is the "bulk liquor business" that Baijiu enterprises are increasing investment in a long-term incremental growth driven by channel reconstruction, or a phased trend driven by the anxiety of "destocking"? How is the actual quality of this seemingly prosperous business?
Baijiu enterprises restart the old "bulk liquor dispensing" business
The layout of bulk liquor dispensing stores by Baijiu enterprises is significantly accelerating. Looking back at various actions since the beginning of this year, it is not difficult to find that the entry of Baijiu enterprises into the bulk liquor dispensing track has evolved from the tentative exploration of individual brands to a collective action of the entire industry.
First look at the three leading Anhui Baijiu producers. At the end of last year, Gujing Gongjiu opened its first "Gujing Light Health Club · Bulk Liquor Dispensing Store" in Bozhou, Anhui, entering the bulk liquor retail sector with the model of front store and back workshop, dispensing and selling liquor on site. As of October 8 this year, its official Douyin account shows that there are 134 stores, covering Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Hubei and other provinces. The "Kouzi Distillery" under Kouzijiao focuses on pure grain bulk liquor priced at 50-60 yuan per jin, and this year it opened 14 stores in 8 cities on January 8 all at once. Yingjia Gongjiu tested the water in a low-key way through the franchise model, with product prices ranging from more than ten yuan to 198 yuan per jin.
The Sichuan Baijiu sector focuses on the discourse power of the supply chain. Sichuan Liquor Group, the leading base liquor integrator that has integrated more than 260 liquor enterprises, plans to spend 3-5 years promoting the "Sichuan Liquor Group +" bulk liquor stores to form a network of "hundreds of cities and thousands of stores"; the "Sichuan Liquor E-Store Bulk Liquor Dispensing Store" built by Luzhou Baijiu Industry Development Investment Group and operated by Zuigingfeng Liquor Industry launched the national first batch of model store investment promotion in March this year.
Other regional brands are also eager to try. Taking the Henan Baijiu camp as an example, Yangshao, Dukang, Songhe, Shendian and other liquor enterprises have all entered this track. Yangshao's first national bulk liquor dispensing store is located in the Shaoguangli Cultural Block in Mianchi, Henan, based on the model of "freshly dispensed and drunk, direct supply from the source"; Dukang has put forward the blueprint of 200 bulk liquor stores named "Dukang Tavern".
However, with liquor enterprises entering the market one after another, bulk liquor dispensing stores themselves are not new things. The allusion of the ancient figures Sima Xiangru and Zhuo Wenjun "selling liquor at the counter" is often regarded as the origin of bulk liquor dispensing stores; in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, distilleries in urban and rural areas gradually formed a system, and the model of selling liquor by jin has existed for a long time; in the 1970s and 1980s, consumers carrying enamel jars to liquor and non-staple food stores to dispense a few taels of liquor is the common memory of several generations.
The underlying logic of this business has never disappeared: no packaging, low threshold, strong rigid demand, and emphasis on regular customers' trust. Nowadays, the re-entry of liquor enterprises is essentially not a retro, but putting old demands into new scenarios.
Compared with the traditional form, the new type of bulk liquor dispensing store has completed at least three levels of evolution: in terms of business form, it has been upgraded from the simple "selling liquor by jin" to a composite space integrating experience, retail and social interaction; in terms of product positioning, it has shifted from the label of low-end bulk liquor to high-quality affordable liquor with no packaging and emphasized quality; in terms of customer groups, it is no longer limited to middle-aged and elderly people who drink by themselves, but actively attracts young people through lighter consumption expression.
After all, the goal of liquor enterprises is not to replicate the past, but to give new definitions to "bulk liquor dispensing" with the help of new scenarios, new crowds and new experiences.
Why are bulk liquor dispensing stores so popular?
Some insiders call 2026 the "first year of bulk liquor dispensing stores", which is not only driven by the rapid growth of the bulk liquor market, but also a strategic choice for liquor enterprises to actively seek incremental growth and cultivate young customer groups under the background of saturated traditional channels.
First, the fundamental market provides solid support. Public data shows that in 2024, the scale of the bulk liquor market exceeded 80 billion yuan, with an annual growth rate of over 15%; in 2025, it officially exceeded the 100 billion yuan mark, and it is expected to rise to 180 billion yuan by 2030. The considerable existing "base market" has reserved sufficient space for the outbreak of new business formats.
Second, structural changes are taking place in consumption scenarios. For a long time, Baijiu consumption has been highly dependent on scenarios such as business banquets and holiday gift giving. However, with the changes in the economic environment and consumption mentality, the incremental growth of these traditional scenarios is narrowing. At the same time, the mass rigid demand scenarios of "drinking a little liquor" such as daily small gatherings and family self-drinking have long been in a blank state.
The new type of bulk liquor dispensing store precisely hits this blue ocean market. The affordable, flexible and convenient product form allows consumers to buy according to their needs and leave after dispensing, which not only meets the quality demand of daily drinking, but also greatly reduces the decision-making threshold. It can be said that bulk liquor dispensing stores are not competing for existing stock with traditional channels, but creating incremental growth, turning the originally scattered, low-frequency and unbranded bulk liquor consumption into daily consumption with fixed scenarios and quality endorsement.
Third, the strategic demands of liquor enterprises themselves are the deep-seated driving force. At present, the Baijiu industry is undergoing in-depth adjustment, traditional distribution channels are becoming saturated, and performance growth is generally under pressure. Liquor enterprises are in urgent need of new sources of incremental growth.
In addition, the Baijiu industry is generally facing the hidden worry of intergenerational fault in consumption. The emergence of youthful store scenarios is breaking the barrier between Baijiu and young people. For liquor enterprises, entering the bulk liquor dispensing store track is not only an extension of brand youthfulness, but also a move for channel sinking. Its core advantage lies in the quality endorsement of "brewed and sold by ourselves" and the immersive experience of "front store and back workshop".
Taking Gujing Gongjiu as an example, in order to get close to young consumer groups, its stores have added interactive games such as DIY liquor dispensing and personalized labeling, allowing consumers to change from "liquor buyers" to "people who participate in liquor brewing experience"; at the same time, Gujing bulk liquor dispensing stores have also opened official live streaming rooms on Douyin, connecting the link of online grass-planting and offline experience, making the youthful expression of traditional liquor enterprises have a more three-dimensional landing point.
From the market fundamentals to consumption scenarios, and then to the strategy of liquor enterprises, three logics jointly promote the popularity of bulk liquor dispensing stores. On the surface, this is an innovation of terminal form; in essence, it is a microcosm of the Baijiu industry's transformation from "channel is king" to "scenario is king" and "user is king".
Long-term incremental growth or phased trend?
It is undeniable that the core advantages of the new type of bulk liquor dispensing store determine that it has the confidence of sustainable development: direct sales and flattening bring lower cost and higher flexibility; high cost performance conforms to the rational consumption trend; scenario-based experience makes up for the offline shortcomings. For liquor enterprises, bulk liquor dispensing stores are also an important window for brand sinking, user operation and market research.
However, under the trend, hidden worries are also clear.
First look at the supply side. Under the model of small profits but quick turnover, price war, homogeneous competition, and intensifying store density involution will follow one after another. It is still unknown whether the single-store profit model can work; there is a lack of customer flow during the day, and the repurchase rate remains to be verified; the quality control of bulk liquor is also a hidden worry. Once a problem occurs, it will directly damage the reputation of the main brand.
What's more, the competition in this track is fierce. In addition to Baijiu enterprises, traditional bulk liquor stores are represented by Bailaoquan and Anning Shao Jiu, and new bulk liquor dispensing stores are represented by Tangsanliang, Banjiaxia and E Jiaren. All parties have already confronted head-on in the same market.
Wang Daqing, founder of Base Liquor Commune, once said that for the entire bulk liquor industry, the more troublesome problem is the similarity of operation models. Free tasting, front store and back workshop, dispensing liquor by tael, DIY labeling, all players rush to do these things and lose their own characteristics. This track will actually become more and more crowded, and it will be forced to turn from a blue ocean to a red ocean.
Then look at the demand side. First of all, there is a dilemma of customer groups: the main profit group of Baijiu has not formed the consumption habit of buying bulk liquor among young people, while older consumers stick to the stereotype that "bulk liquor equals low-end", and are more accustomed to choosing mature bottled ration liquor from large factories. Secondly, the scenarios are limited. Baijiu is easy to store and not easy to deteriorate, unfinished liquor can be drunk next time, and the scenario of dispensing and drinking on site in the store is relatively narrow. With both customer groups and scenarios limited, repurchase naturally lacks support.
It can be seen that for bulk liquor dispensing stores to become a stable incremental growth in the Baijiu industry, they need to keep quality, build differentiation, expand scenarios, convert "one-time trial" into "habitual consumption", so as to solve the repurchase problem.
Trends are easy to rise, but gold mines are hard to dig. Bulk liquor dispensing stores provide a worthy incremental path for the Baijiu industry in the cold winter, but whether it will become a long-term sample of channel reform or a phased footnote in the destocking cycle, the answer may be left to time, and to those enterprises that are willing to slow down, deeply cultivate scenarios, keep quality, and run through the single-store model.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Jiuzhouzhi" (ID: jiuzhouzhi69), the author is Muzi, 36Kr publishes this content with authorization.