CHINA: China’s Lafite lovers increasingly marginalised - research

By Graham Holter at Wine Intelligence | 19 November 2012

Wine Intelligence released its latest report into China's wine consumers earlier this month

China’s community of affluent, Lafite-loving wine drinkers has almost certainly peaked, according to a new report, creating opportunities for exporters to target other consumer groups in the country’s growing wine market.

Wine Intelligence, which published its new China Portraits report earlier this month, has divided the country’s 19m imported wine drinkers into six distinct consumer groups, based on extensive quantitative and qualitative research in six Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities.

The biggest spending group, dubbed 'prestige-seeking Traditionalists', accounts for 22% of Chinese wine consumers but 44% of the spend, typically seeking out top Bordeaux and Burgundy. “This group is likely at its peak, and will decline in importance as the market matures,” says Maria Troein, Wine Intelligence’s country manager for China.

The report argues that the five other Portrait groups can be targeted through a mixture of education and marketing activity tailored to their respective needs, tapping into a perception among many Chinese that wine drinking signifies sophistication and has some health benefits.

Expert analysis

Portraits China 2012

China Portraits is the first published study that establishes a consumer segmentation of Chinese wine drinkers, and is the culmination of 2 years of quantitative and qualitative research by Wine Intelligence in the Chinese market.This report includes the following documents: 1. Management Summary: Introduction to China Portraits 2. Handbook: Detailed description of each segment and their relationship with wine 3. Profiling tables with full Vinitrac® data.

Sectors: Emerging markets – BRIC, Wine