As a highly internationalized wine, the global wine industry is undergoing overall and profound changes. China's wine industry is also struggling to move forward in the depth of adjustment. As one of the nine high-quality ecological wine grape producing areas in China, the wine producing areas in the Hexi Corridor face common problems in industrial development, such as prominent product homogenization, low cluster effect in the producing areas, and short industrial chain. How can China's wine producing regions successfully break through the fierce market competition?
The 2024 National Annual Conference of Wine and Fruit Wine Industry was held recently. "Two important messages came from this annual meeting: first, young low-grade wine is popular; second, women's group consumption intends to move into the wine market. This is an opportunity as well as a challenge for wine enterprises." Wang Zhibin, director of the winery of Gansu Qilian Wine Industry Co., Ltd., said that domestic wine production costs are high and has no advantage over imported wine with zero tariff, Only by deeply investigating the market and transforming the product differentiation into the market demand differentiation, can we "make a comeback".
The Hexi Corridor wine producing area is one of the nine high-quality ecological wine grape producing areas in China. After more than 40 years of development, its product popularity and influence continue to improve; However, with the in-depth adjustment of the national alcohol industry in recent years, and the intensification of competition in domestic and foreign wine industries, the production areas are also undergoing tests. What difficulties are traditional production areas facing? How to face the challenges and find a breakthrough for development?
The fragrance of wine is too bad for the alley
In many grape planting bases shuttling back and forth in the Hexi Corridor, only one ridge of different varieties of wine grape vines has been unearthed and put on the shelf, growing happily. Hexi Corridor is located at 36-40 degrees north latitude, with suitable sunshine, temperature, humidity and soil, providing ideal geographical and climatic conditions for planting high-quality wine grapes. During the Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian, an envoy to the Western Regions, sent grape seeds and grape wine to China along the Silk Road with desert camel bells, and the history of wine in the Hexi Corridor began.
However, with the deep change of the global wine industry, the Hexi Corridor wine industry, which has the advantage of raw material quality, is also facing many problems in the planting, production and sales links. Yang Suchang, professor of the School of Economics of Lanzhou University and counselor of the People's Government of Gansu Province, believes that the wine producing areas in the Hexi Corridor face great challenges both in policy system construction and enterprise development.
The reporter found that the primary problem faced by the production area is that the whole process of planting cannot be mechanized, and the labor cost continues to increase, which leads to the reduction of wine grape planting.
In the grape planting base of Gansu Zhangye Guofeng Grape Wine Industry Co., Ltd., Xu Fucai, a 60 year old worker, is checking the budding of grapes. Now, just after the excavation, he has just entered into field management operations such as frost prevention. Only when he enters the summer shearing, can the machinery work. It is reported that there is a large demand for labor in the vineyard, and the workers who can be recruited are older, and the harvest season coincides with the harvest of seed corn. The daily labor cost of 300 yuan at key nodes is still not available.
Because most of them are old gardens with low standardization, the most laborious picking and burying operations in grape planting cannot be mechanized. "Some machines are imported from abroad, with high degree of automation, difficult to find operators, difficult to match vulnerable parts, and unable to enjoy agricultural machinery subsidies." Chen Jianjun, director of the production plant of Zhangye Guofeng Wine Industry Co., Ltd., said.
Pan Hong, general manager of Gansu Qilian Wine Industry Co., Ltd., found in the survey that by 2020, the total area of wine grape cultivation in Gansu production area will be reduced to 155000 mu. The reasons for the yield reduction mainly come from three aspects: first, the wine grape planting cycle is long, the production cost is high, and the fruit purchase price is low, leading to the low enthusiasm of farmers for planting, the low level of mechanization in the process of grape cultivation, and the low level of large-scale production; Second, the technical support system of planting industry is relatively lacking, and the phenomenon of grape yield reduction caused by frost, hail and other disasters is relatively prominent; Third, farmers lack the skills to effectively deal with production crisis.
In addition, the homogenization of planting, production and sales links is also one of the reasons for the loss of wine advantages and lack of competitiveness in the Hexi Corridor. Only by implementing the differentiation strategy, highlighting the local advantages, and digging into the development resources and historical advantages, can the style and characteristics of the wine producing areas be fully reflected. Niu Yulin, deputy general manager and technical director of Gansu Mogao Industrial Development Co., Ltd., said that the introduction and breeding of high-quality drought resistant and cold resistant varieties in the Hexi Corridor wine producing areas were lacking, the exploration and research of local wine characteristics also needed to be strengthened, and the construction of scientific and technological support system for wine quality was relatively weak.
In addition to homogenization, the development mode of "fighting alone" also blocked the high-quality development of wine in the Hexi Corridor.
"'Earliest' and 'organic' are two key words in the production area, but we have not effectively promoted them." Xu Wenliang, general manager of Gansu Binhe Food Industry Group Co., Ltd., said that the enterprise is weak in "fighting alone", and it is difficult to form the core competitiveness of the brand in the production area. Hu Xingzhi, head of the market operation department of Gansu Mogao Industrial Development Co., Ltd., believes that although domestic wine has a certain brand and market foundation, it generally lacks the awareness of cultivating the market and consumers.
"In the promotion and marketing of the wine industry in northwest China, the trend of" going out together "has not been formed, the public brand effect and market recognition are not high, and the high-quality products and personalized products with high added value of enterprises are few. In addition, the space capacity of the local market in the northwest is limited, and it is far away from the main consumer markets in the east. The transportation costs are high, leading to weak competitiveness in the product market and great difficulty in market development. " Huo Xingsan, secretary-general of Wine Branch of China Wine Association, believes that there are still some problems in the development of wine industry in the Hexi Corridor, such as insufficient integration and development of wine industry and cultural tourism industry, insufficient cultivation of wine diet culture, and weak foundation of northwest wine culture.
The advantageous production areas have confidence
Although facing many development difficulties, the wine industry in Hexi Corridor has not lost confidence. "The wine in the Hexi Corridor production area has unique advantages. Years of grape planting and wine making technology development have created excellent product quality and differentiated product categories. Although there are many new difficulties, the wine enterprises in the Hexi Corridor production area still have confidence. The key is to make the characteristics more prominent." Pan Hong said.
The sunshine duration is more than 3000 hours, the temperature difference between day and night is 15 ℃, the annual precipitation is more than 100 mm, the soil structure is loose, the Qilian Glacier melt water... The suitable sunshine, temperature, humidity and soil in the Hexi Corridor provide ideal geographical and climatic conditions for planting high-quality wine grapes.
Over the years, it is precisely because of such superior natural conditions that the wine producing areas in the Hexi Corridor have taken advantage of their development to brew a variety of wine products and form a certain market scale. Nowadays, the wine sales network produced in Hexi Corridor has spread all over the main markets in China, and a relatively complete marketing system has been formed, with the market share accounting for about 10% of the national market; Four production areas, namely Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiayuguan and Tianshui, have been formed, with the highest planting area of wine grapes reaching about 300000 mu. Mogao, Zixuan, Qilian, Guofeng and other brands have grown rapidly, with an annual production capacity of 140000 tons of wine.
Duan Zhiguo, director of Gansu Alcohol Circulation Industry Promotion Center, said that some wine brands in the Hexi Corridor wine producing areas have successfully entered the Japanese, Malaysian and other foreign markets. The wine industry integrates economic benefits, ecological benefits and social benefits, and has become an important hand to speed up the economic restructuring of Gansu.
At the beginning of May, 1120 pieces of 9 wines, including Guiren Xiangbing White, Mogao Dry Red and Guofeng Cabernet Sauvignon, from three enterprises, namely, Gansu Mogao Industrial Development Co., Ltd., Gansu Qilian Wine Industry Co., Ltd. and Gansu Zhangye Guofeng Wine Industry Co., Ltd., were sent to the Japanese market. "The group export to Japan has played an important role in boosting enterprise confidence, strengthening brand promotion, and enhancing the influence of Hexi Corridor production areas." Pan Hong said that in the middle of June, the Department of Commerce of Gansu Province will again organize Longjiu enterprises to participate in the 49th International Food and Beverage Exhibition in Tokyo, Japan, and hold the Hexi Corridor wine export new product promotion conference, Help Hexi Corridor wine market sales in the Asia Pacific region.
In Niu Yulin's view, if the wine in the Hexi Corridor production area after years of development wants to break through the tight encirclement, it is necessary to firmly grasp the quality advantage of the origin, strengthen the product quality, and truly launch the wine brand in the Hexi Corridor.
Let the wine enterprises in Hexi Corridor have the characteristics of development and differentiated products. "Only good vineyards can produce good wine, and only the Hexi Corridor can produce ice white wine." Wang Zhibin said that the grapes used to brew ice wine must be picked and pressed with ice on the trees and brewed without adding any glycogen at minus 8 degrees Celsius. Only the climate of Hexi Corridor can meet this requirement, but the grape yield is low and the risk is high.
"Qilian wine industry employees changed from 'forestry people' to 'winemakers'. The first bottle of wine was brewed in 2000, and ice wine was successfully developed in 2003, filling the gap where there is no ice wine in China," said Wang Zhibin.
Differentiated products make it possible to meet the demand of differentiated markets, and making full use of characteristics has become an important starting point for enterprise development. "In the second half of this year, we will try to reduce the output of dry wine and increase the output of ice wine according to the market situation," said Wang Zhibin.
Try to innovate in many ways
While digging deep into the natural endowment and connotation, the wine producing areas in the Hexi Corridor, which are seeking breakthroughs, are also thinking of "new ways".
"Red wine presents a very bright ruby red color, which mainly comes from the pigment extracted from the grape skin. Different varieties of red and white grapes, the anthocyanin composition of red wine will be slightly higher, leading to a more profound and bright color..." In the 3700 square meter underground cellar of Gansu Zixuan Wine Co., Ltd, The commentator Chai Liuqing is explaining wine tasting knowledge to tourists.
Zixuan Liquor Co., Ltd. proposed the plan of combining culture and tourism at the beginning of its establishment in 2005. In 2010, they were rated as 4A tourist attractions, and tourists can visit their filling lines. Last year, they installed a glass visiting corridor in the fermentation workshop, and added a new route to the brewing workshop in the core area of wine.
The cellar of Gansu Mogao Industrial Development Co., Ltd. in Lanzhou is also adjusting its thinking in time. "Today, the east gate of the wine cellar is open on weekdays, and anyone can come in and visit it. We also provide interpretation services and free tasting activities." Hu Xingzhi said that before 2022, the wine cellar was not open to the outside world. Now, not only the door is opened, but also the docking with various units is increased to open another way of promotion.
Xiao Hua, general manager of Guofeng Manor Wine Brand Business Department of Gansu Binhe Group, said that they would seek breakthroughs in brewing technology and make some products that tend to be young, small and fashionable while doing high-end brands; Carry out early investment attraction for precision R&D products through differentiated products to achieve brand market share.
Many enterprises such as Guofeng, Qilian Pearl Winery, Zixuan Distillery are exploring different development models, or expanding the integration of culture and tourism, or brewing small bottles of wine and bubble wine. The enterprise strives to find a precise marketing model under market segmentation, and tries to expand channels by locking in circle consumption at the moment of pursuing personalization.
For the wine producing areas in the Hexi Corridor, the efforts of enterprises are the prerequisite to achieve industrial breakthrough, and the overall planning and policy guidance of the industry are also very important.
Yang Suchang believes that the unique natural conditions in Gansu can not be imitated. Only based on the natural endowment of the Hexi Corridor, can we formulate an industrial plan for the long-term development of the wine industry, solidly promote the industrial development, work hard to grow good grapes, and carry out the transformation and upgrading of traditional parks to create a truly green and organic grape park, Only in this way can we truly realize market expansion and industrial integration.
Yang Suchang said that the development of the wine industry in Gansu's Hexi Corridor requires top-level planning. We can consider integrating the strength of relevant functional departments, universities and research institutes in Gansu Province, and scientifically formulate, organize and implement the development plan of the wine industry; Establish the local brand and overall image of wine in the Hexi Corridor, actively build a high-tech industry demonstration park, and cultivate the wine industry into an emerging industry with deep integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries.
The Research Report on Promoting the Innovation and Development of Gansu Wine Industry issued by the Department of Commerce of Gansu Province last July suggested that the development of the wine industry should be deeply integrated with ecological construction and cultural tourism, and more capital, science and technology, talents, land and other factors should be guided to gather in the industry to promote the upgrading of the industry.
The key to strengthening the health of the wine industry is to continue to deepen the cultivation technology and wine making technology.
Hao Yan, the head of Lanzhou Experimental Station of the National Grape Industry Technology System and a researcher of the Forestry, Fruit and Flower Research Institute of Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that the core element in the competition of the wine industry is the construction and cultivation of high-quality wine grape bases. The wine grape base in the Hexi Corridor was established earlier, and there were practical problems such as frame type transformation and replanting in the transformation process, with high transformation costs and large losses. Therefore, the government can also promote the transformation of old parks through agricultural subsidies. On the premise that some links have been mechanized, vigorously develop and introduce automatic rattan burying machines, excavators, harvesters, etc., actively establish agricultural machinery service stations, strengthen agricultural machinery support, and promote the process of planting mechanization.
Hao Yan said that the grape base in the Hexi Corridor is also vulnerable to disastrous weather, so we can refer to the insurance policy system of other agricultural products in the province, actively promote the insurance system of wine grape planting, and gradually form the policy system of wine grape planting agricultural insurance system.
In addition, product positioning and product performance are the key to industry breakthrough. The channel only solves the first step of the product going global, and whether it is accepted by consumers is the most important consideration standard. For the wine industry in the Hexi Corridor, it is particularly important to clarify the industry orientation and promote the cultivation of consumers' wine and diet culture with a new appreciation system while increasing industrial support.
In 2018, China Wine Industry Association, China Food Industry Association and China Horticultural Society jointly released the Wine Evaluation System in China for the first time, which divided wine into two categories: red, white, peach red wine and sparkling wine, evaluated from four dimensions of appearance, aroma, taste and overall. Compared with the evaluation system of foreign wine, It is more in line with the cognition and understanding of Chinese people.
Huo Xingsan said that the wine producing areas in the Hexi Corridor should be encouraged to standardize the wine circulation market and strengthen the construction of the terminal evaluation capacity of the wine market while highlighting local and characteristic production; It is necessary to trace back to the origin, clarify the history of China's grape and wine development, conform to the current trend of diversified, personalized and stylized consumption, and reconstruct the quality expression system and value expression system of Chinese wine; Match the characteristics of Chinese food culture, popularize wine, and meet the needs of different consumer groups. (Source: Economic Daily Author: Zhao Mei)
