What’s Happening…

• Elite in China Face Austerity Under Xi’s Rule
• Just a drop: Scotch sales down in China, but cognac up
• Struggling baijiu distillers explore alternative markets
• Premium baijiu producers target lower end of market
• Kweichow Moutai’s net profits jump in 2012
• Tsingtao Brewery Co grows share in FY as sales, profits rise in 2012
• Diageo confirms aim to up Quanxing Group holding
• China as a Vast Wine Market
• Vinter of Britain’s royal family to stock Chinese wine
• Nescafe promising more “gusto” after 75 years  
• Pancakes or porridge: the battle for China’s breakfast
• Foreign baby formula off shelves
• Mengniu Dairy records 36b yuan in sales in 2012
• Huiyuan 2012 profits down 94.7% year-on-year
• Wahaha to produce Russia’s Gewasi drink
• Big-box retailers face major adjustments in China
• Denny’s Cancels Restaurant Franchise Plans In China
• Wumart opened 51 own stores in 2012

Elite in China Face Austerity Under Xi’s Rule

Source: New York Times by Andrew Jacobs

Beijing — Life for the almighty Chinese government official has come to this: car pools, domestically made wristwatches and self-serve lunch buffets.

In the four months since he was anointed China’s paramount leader and tastemaker-in-chief, President Xi Jinping has imposed a form of austerity on the nation’s famously free-spending civil servants, military brass and provincial party bosses. Warning that graft and gluttony threaten to bring down the ruling Communists, Mr. Xi has ordered an end to boozy, taxpayer-financed banquets and the bribery that often takes the form of a gift-wrapped Louis Vuitton bag.

Just a drop: Scotch sales down in China, but cognac up

Source: Want China Times

The Chinese government’s demand for officials to reduce unnecessary spending last November has impacted the sales of imported Scotch whisky, with saw a drop of double-digit percentages during the Chinese New Year holidays in February, reports the Shanghai-based First Financial Daily.

Struggling baijiu distillers explore alternative markets

Source: Want China Times

Producers of Chinese liquor or baijiu, a popular gift and tipple served at banquets, have been hit hard by the government’s frugality measures and companies are now looking to explore new business opportunities elsewhere, the Chinese-language Beijing Business Today reports.

Premium baijiu producers target lower end of market

Source: Want China Times

After Chinese authorities prohibited government agencies from consuming the country’s premium liquor brands, also known as c, major distilleries have begun tapping into the market with middle- and low-end liquor, reports the Shanghai-based First Financial Daily.

Kweichow Moutai’s net profits jump in 2012

Source: Xinhua via China Daily

BEIJING — Leading Chinese liquor producer Kweichow Moutai Co has posted surging but slower net profits growth for 2012.

Tsingtao Brewery Co grows share in FY as sales, profits rise in 2012

Source: Just-Drinks Olly Wehring

• Full-year net profits up by 2.6% to CNY1.84bn (US$193.3m)
• Net sales in 2012 climb by 11.3% to CNY25.78bn
• Operating profits come in flat, down by 0.2% to CNY2.14bn
• Volumes out-pace overall beer market, rising by 10.5%

Tsingtao Brewery Co has posted rising sales and profits for 2012, as volumes increased markedly in the year.

The Chinese brewer, which is almost 20%-owned by Japan’s Asahi, said earlier this week that net profits in 2012 came in 2.6% up on 2011 at CNY1.84bn (US$193.3m). Net sales in the year jumped by 11.3% to CNY25.78bn, although operating profits slipped by 0.2% to CNY2.14bn.