There are several reasons why Kweichow Moutai is expensive:
1. Wenhua has a long history
Kweichow Moutai is produced in Moutai Town, Renhuai City, Zunyi City, Guizhou Province , is China’s traditional specialty wine. Along with Scotch whiskey and French Cognac, it is one of the three major spirits. It is also one of China's three famous liquors, "Mao Wu Jian". It is also the originator of Daqu Maotai-flavor liquor, with a history of more than 800 years.
Maotai Town has always been a famous town in northern Guizhou. In ancient times, there was a prosperous portrayal of "Sichuan salt traveled to Guizhou, and Qin merchants gathered in Maotai." Wrote a magnificent poem in the history of Chinese revolution. Maotai Town integrates the profound ancient salt culture, the splendid Long March culture and the mysterious wine culture. It is also the hometown of Maotai liquor.
2. Special technology
Climate, geography, technology, water source, and raw materials are all indispensable. Moutai is a Maotai-flavor liquor, and the raw materials used in Maotai-flavor liquor are local high-quality small red glutinous sorghum, wheat, and natural spring water in Maotai Town, and are brewed according to ancient traditional techniques. The brewing process follows the process of making koji during the Dragon Boat Festival and adding sand to the Chongyang Festival, adding ingredients twice, cooking nine times, adding koji eight times for fermentation, and extracting wine seven times.
The water used to brew Moutai is mainly water from the Chishui River. This water has a slightly sweet taste and no dissolved impurities, making the brewed wine particularly sweet. Maotai Town also has special natural environment and climate conditions. It is located in the basin at the lowest point of the Guizhou Plateau, with an altitude of only 440 meters. It is far away from the plateau airflow and has dense clouds and fog all day long. The high temperature period in summer lasts for 5 months at 35-39°C, and most of the year is shrouded in sultry, humid rain and fog. This special climate, water quality, and soil conditions are very beneficial to the fermentation and maturation of brewing raw materials. At the same time, it also partially plays a decisive role in the microbial production, refinement, increase and decrease of the aroma components in Moutai. Without this special climatic condition, some aroma components in the liquor cannot be produced, and the taste of the liquor will be lacking.
This is why some liquor manufacturers tried their best to imitate Moutai but failed. Maotai-flavor liquor is a relatively precious category of Chinese liquor. Moutai is the originator of Daqu Maotai-flavor liquor in China and is known as the national wine, gift wine, and diplomatic wine. It has the characteristics of outstanding sauce aroma, elegant and delicate, mellow and full body, long aftertaste, and long-lasting aroma in the empty cup. Its quality and unique style are unmatched by other liquors.
3. The market value of the brand remains high. The more expensive it is, the more people buy it
The Moutai people talk about generally refers to Feitian Moutai and Five-Star Moutai. The current price of a bottle of Feitian Moutai is 1499 yuan.
Moutai Group also has other series of wines, including Moutai Welcome Wine and Moutai Prince Wine. The prices of Moutai Welcome Wine and Moutai Prince Wine range from 100 to 200.
Many people may not know the cost of Moutai. I think everyone will be surprised when I tell you that a bottle of Feitian Moutai costs 1,499 yuan. The cost is only a few dozen yuan.
In fact, relevant discussions and disputes have long existed. The pricing of a product is not necessarily related to the cost of the product. From a marketing perspective, product pricing is determined.
In addition to cost factors, other factors should also be considered, such as product scarcity, market positioning, supply and demand, competition factors, etc. These are higher than the former factors.
Moutai is known as the national wine. It contains too much wine culture and entrusts the emotions of hundreds of millions of people. It is a postcard of China. The value of Moutai is reflected in not only the unique brewing process but also its huge brand influence, which is beyond the reach of many liquor companies.
Drinking Moutai and giving Moutai as gifts are a manifestation of status. The main force of Moutai liquor is people aged 40-50 years old. They have sufficient financial resources, a wide circle of friends and a business circle. They are more interested in the sense of honor and face that Moutai liquor brings to them, and they are more concerned about the price of Moutai liquor. I don’t think it’s expensive, but the more expensive the better. Scarcity can reflect expensiveness, and expensiveness can reflect status.
4. The capital market is intensifying due to high valuations.
Recently, the stock price of Kweichow Moutai has continued to hit record highs. After surpassing Diageo and becoming the world's largest stock market last year, Kweichow Moutai's stock price soared 4.04%. , setting a new record again.
It is understood that Kweichow Moutai is expected to achieve total operating income of more than 60 billion yuan in 2017, a year-on-year increase of about 50%, and net profit will increase by about 58% year-on-year. It has also announced that the average price of Moutai in 2018 will increase by about 18%. , providing a boost for the stock price to rise. Kweichow Moutai's stock price rose 81.71% in 2014, 32.02% in 2015, 59.51% in 2016, and 113.07% in 2017. The increase so far this year has reached 12%, which is really amazing. In the overall downturn of A-shares, institutions have united to warm up the defensive liquor leader Kweichow Moutai in recent years, and fund rating agencies have also continued to raise their target prices.
As for Kweichow Moutai, the official retail price of 53% Feitian Moutai on the market has risen from the original 1,299 yuan/bottle to 1,499 yuan/bottle. However, in fact, dealers are reluctant to sell and hoard goods. A bottle of 53-degree Feitian Moutai sells for about 2,000 yuan, and as usual around the Spring Festival, prices are expected to rise. Kweichow Moutai has gone further and further on the road to luxury goods, and Kweichow Moutai's market value is already one step away from exceeding 1 trillion. In 2016, the GDP of the entire Guizhou Province was only 1.17 trillion.
Extended information:
Moutai is a specialty of Moutai Town, Renhuai City, Zunyi City, Guizhou Province, and a national geographical indication product of China.
Moutai is China’s traditional specialty wine. It is one of the world's three most famous distilled spirits, along with Scotch whiskey and French Cognac. It is also one of China's three most famous wines, "Mao Wu Jian". It is also the originator of Daqu Maotai-flavor liquor and China’s national liquor with a history of more than 800 years.
The style and quality characteristics of Kweichow Moutai are "prominent sauce aroma, elegant and delicate, mellow body, long aftertaste, and long-lasting aroma in the empty cup". Its special style comes from the unique flavor formed over the years. The traditional brewing techniques and brewing methods are combined with the agricultural production in the Chishui River Basin. Affected by the environment, seasonal production, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Double Ninth Festival have retained some traces of the original local life.
In 1996, Moutai liquor craftsmanship was determined to be a state secret and protected. In 2001, the traditional craftsmanship of Moutai liquor was included in the first batch of national tangible cultural heritage. In 2006, the State Council approved the inclusion of "Moutai Traditional Brewing Technique" into the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists and declared it a world intangible cultural heritage.
On February 14, 2003, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine approved the implementation of regional origin product protection for "Moutai".
On March 28, 2013, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine approved the adjustment of the protected name and scope of geographical indication product "Moutai" (Kweichow Moutai).
Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Moutai