BeverageTradeNetwork.com (BTN) gets answers from one of the largest importers in China on questions such as “what are the three main factors that importers consider when picking up a new winery?”.
BTN also discovers the top five support programs that wine importers expect from wineries.
Ian Ford, general manager and co-founder of Summergate Fine Wines, discusses what wine importers look for when sourcing new brands as long term supply partners in an interview between himself and BTN.
China is a huge and diverse geography, that is more similar to Europe then it is to a single country, in terms of diversity of language and dialect, culture, cuisine, and consumer habits.
Likewise, the distribution platform across the country is very fragmented and diverse.
National key accounts in the off-trade channel for example, represent less than 5 per cent of the volume of imported wine sold in China, by our analysis, compared to roughly 80 per cent of the market for wine in the UK.
Building a brand and a market in China therefore requires the ability to construct, manage, and serve a diverse and fragmented distribution platform across the entire continent.
