Let the good times flow again

Li Shiyi of COFCO [Photo/China Daily]

Its imported wine range, branded Wine & Wine, or Ming Zhuang Hui in Chinese (meaning a collection of best wines), comprises 36 winemaking appellations in 12 countries, Li says.

"This is a start. We are keen to develop COFCO's wine and sprits business into an international conglomerate."

To bolster the business, which at present employs about 150 people, COFCO set up an independent company for imported wines, COFCO Wine & Wine International Co Ltd, three months ago, upgrading its imported wine and spirits department set up at the beginning of 2014.

In the Wine & Wine range more than 5 million bottles of imported wines were sold last year, Li says.

COFCO is the largest State-owned food company in China, involved in everything from cooking oil to real estate, and well known for its Great Wall wine brand. Though its strategy is noteworthy, it is by no means unique.

Its rival Yantai Changyu Pioneer Wine Co Ltd, one of China's top wine producers, has also stepped up buying overseas wineries as it extends its brand portfolio, and in this regard it was particularly active in the second half of last year.

In November it paid 3.33 million euros ($3.54 million) for a 90 percent stake in Chateau Mirefleurs in Bordeaux, owned by the French drinks company Castel Group.

Early in the year, Changyu set up five divisions in its headquarters in Yantai, Shandong province, to expand its imported wine business in five major wine countries: Australia, France, Italy, Spain and the United States.

In the first 11 months of 2015 the number of bottles of wine imported rose 37 percent compared with the corresponding period the previous year, and their value rose by a similar amount, Chinese Customs says.

Nevertheless, some in the Chinese wine industry say that though the market for imported wines looks promising, talk of a recovery may be premature because the market is extremely complex.

That having been said, the rise in imports since the beginning of last year and the lower average cost of foreign wines have many wine traders looking at how they can meet the needs of the masses.

Delicato Family Vineyards of California has been selling its wines in China for more than 10 years.