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This article is translated from the Chinese-language original of
Commentary on China's Wine Industry, Volume 1.
1. Introduction
Recently, the Standing Committee of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Party Committee conducted a special study on the high-quality development of the region's wine industry, and held a symposium with representatives of some wineries, enterprises and experts. Li Yifei, Secretary of the Autonomous Region Party Committee and Director of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. The content of the speech has drawn a clear course for the high-quality development of Ningxia's wine industry in the "15th Five-Year Plan" period of the Helan Mountain Eastern Foothill Appellation. This paper attempts to study and understand the policy logic and market demand orientation behind the "speech", and from the perspective of the five core market entities of the wine industry, analyzes how industrial members can accurately undertake policy objectives through role adaptation, so as to achieve a two-way win-win situation of "policy dividend" and "enterprise benefit".
2. Interpretation of the Core Theme
Three key signals that entrepreneurs need to grasp:
The "speech" is carried out around four dimensions: quality, market, integration and guarantee. Its essence is to build a development ecology of "policy support + market leadership" for the industry. For entrepreneurs, it is necessary to accurately capture three core signals:
First, quality improvement is an unshakable foundation for survival: The "speech" emphasizes "adhering to the terroir quality of the Helan Mountain Eastern Foothill", which essentially guides enterprises to get rid of homogeneous competition and build core barriers with "terroir + standards".
Second, collaborative governance is a key path to reduce costs and increase efficiency: The deployment of "coordinated planning across the whole region" and"government-enterprise collaboration" means that the government will promote the integration of factor resources. Enterprises can reduce costs in land, logistics, marketing and other links through industrial chain collaboration (production-processing-sales) and government-enterprise cooperation, so as to enhance their competitiveness.
Third, integrated development is the core engine of value enhancement: The orientation of "Wine+" cross-border integration and digital intelligent empowerment opens up value-added space for enterprises to transform from "selling products" to "selling experiences and culture", which is the key to breaking through the traditional profit model.
3. Definition of Core Market Entities
Five roles that are closely linked to wineries:
Wineries are the core carriers of the industrial chain, and their survival and development are directly related to five types of interest communities, forming a symbiotic relationship of "prosperity together and decline together". Centering on wineries operation, wineries owners, channel operators, grape-growing farmers, professional service institutions, and appellation cultural tourism institutions are the members that constitute the core market entities of the appellation.
Only when these five types of members make concerted efforts and respond to the policy call through the linkage of the upper and lower reaches of the industrial chain can the strategic objectives be transformed into operational effectiveness. From the perspective of core market entities, this paper breaks down the undertaking paths and action points of each role.
Winery owners: The core decision-makers of industrial development, who undertake the core responsibilities of quality control, brand building and business model innovation.
Channel operators: The "bridges" for winery products to enter the market, including regional distributors, online operators, catering channel service providers, etc., which determine the market penetration rate of products.
Grape-growing farmers: The suppliers of wine grape raw materials, who directly affect the quality base and cost control of wine.
Professional service institutions: Covering oenology technical consultants, universities, winery design and construction teams, digital solution providers, etc., which are the supporting forces for wineries to reduce costs and increase efficiency, reserve talents, and achieve quality improvement and upgrading.
Appellation cultural tourism institutions: The organizers that connect winery tourism resources, which determine the monetization ability of Wineries' "Wine + Cultural Tourism" business model.
4. Role Adaptation and Action Practices of Each Core Market Entity
4.1 Winery Owners
"I am the first person responsible for policy implementation"
As the key hub connecting policies and the market, wineryowners need to take "building a foundation with quality, innovating business forms, and making brand voices" as the core, and transform policy requirements into specific business strategies of wineries.
Deeply cultivate terroir and respond to the call of "improving quality and building brands": Actively connect with the government's germplasm resource innovation projects, participate in the breeding of local characteristic varieties, refuse to blindly follow the trend to introduce foreign varieties, and create the exclusive flavor label of the winery; strictly implement the "superior varieties, superior opportunities, superior technologies and superior methods", join the unified appellation quality traceability system, realize the data chaining of the whole process of grape planting, brewing and bottling, and make the"terroir of the Helan Mountain Eastern Foothill" become the core trust endorsement of products; leverage the government's standardization construction subsidies to upgrade the brewing workshop and testing equipment, so as to ensure stable and controllable product quality. Practice the concept of green environmental protection, and integrate environmental protection and social responsibility into daily operation.
Innovate business forms, highlight differences, and implement the requirements of "promoting integration and expanding scenarios": Relying on the policy support for "Wine + Cultural Tourism", transform the infrastructure of wineries, add experience spaces such as research classrooms, camping bases and art exhibition halls, and design immersive cultural tourism products of "grape picking - brewing experience - wine cellar tasting"; link with surrounding cultural tourism resources such as the Great Wall and the Yellow River, actively connect with the government's planning of high-quality tourism routes, and include wineries into the appellation cultural tourism map; build online tasting live streaming rooms and VR winery tour systems to break the time and space constraints of offline experience and broaden revenue channels. Create differentiated products and services, and develop layered experience products according to their own conditions — from mass-level free visits to high-end private customized dinners, from multilingual guided tours to customized label services, and then to extended business forms such as winery homestays and member direct mail, so as to realize the ultimate transformation from "traffic" to "value".
Develop in unity and practice the concept of "coordinated planning across the whole region": Participate in the establishment of the appellation winery alliance, avoid low-price vicious competition, and jointly formulate the price gradient standard of appellation products; unite wineries in the alliance to share planting technologies, marketing channels and cultural tourism resources, concentrate forces to participate in domestic and foreign wine exhibitions, and build the regional public brand of "Helan Mountain Eastern Foothill"; regularly communicate with relevant government departments, feedback the pain points and difficulties in operation, promote the optimization of policy details, and make policy support more in line with the actual needs of wineries.
4.2 Channel Operators
"I am the value transmitter at the market end, and I make Ningxia wine enter thousands of households"
Channel operators are the implementers of the policy goal of "expanding the market and expanding consumption". They need to take "precise goods distribution, deep cultivation of scenarios, and brand linkage" as the starting point to open up the "last mile" of products from wineries to consumers.
Accurately lay out channels and respond to the call of "expanding domestic demand and expanding the market": According to product characteristics, lay out mass consumption channels and segmented markets, develop cost-effective products suitable for community group buying and e-commerce live streaming, launch convenient specifications such as small bottles, fruity flavors and screw-cap styles, to meet the lightweight consumption needs of young groups for camping, drama chasing and other scenarios; with the help of the cooperation opportunity between the government, large supermarkets and catering chains, promote Ningxia wine to settle in core business district stores and characteristic catering stores, create localized consumption scenarios such as "hot pot paired with sweet white wine" and "barbecue paired with sparkling wine", so that wine can be integrated into daily gatherings and business banquets. For the high-end market, connect with wine list consultants and sommelier teams to provide customized tasting services for high-end hotels and private clubs, so as to enhance product premium. At the same time, cancel unreasonable tie-in sales policies, focus on core products to deepen and penetrate, so as to improve channel motivation and consumer satisfaction.
Link with wineries for promotion and practice the concept of "building independent brands and strengthening cognition": Respond to the policy goal of "building independent brands and winning market space", actively participate in the joint promotion activities of the appellation brand alliance, share publicity resources such as exhibitions and high-speed rail advertisements, and avoid the high marketing cost of fighting alone; in the terminal (sales area) promotion, combine the appellation brand of "Helan Mountain Eastern Foothill" with their own agent brands, enhance product recognition with the help of appellation credibility, and add value to the appellation brand through high-quality services at the same time. At last, highlight the regional public brand logo of "Helan Mountain Eastern Foothill Wine" on product packaging and publicity materials. Finally, collect the taste feedback and demand preferences of terminal consumers, and timely transmit them to wineries, so as to help wineries optimize the direction of product R&D and realize "production-marketing collaboration".
4.3 Grape-Growing Farmers
"I am the quality guardian at the raw material end"
Growers are the key support for the policy goal of "stabilizing quality and ensuring supply". They need to take "standardized planting and refined management" as the core to guarantee the quality of wine from the source.
Implement standardized plantingand respond to the requirements of "superior varieties and superiormethods": Actively participate in the grape planting technical training organized by the government, carry out field management in strict accordance with the appellation planting regulations, promote green planting modes such as organic planting andbiodynamic methods, and reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides; connect with the raw material demand of wineries, sign long-term supplyagreements to realize "order-based planting", so as to avoid the unsalable risk caused by blind expansion of planting area; strive for government agricultural subsidies and agricultural machinery purchase preferences, introduce intelligent irrigation, UAV plant protection and other equipment to improve planting efficiency and reduce production costs.
Strengthen interest connection and practice the concept of "linking farmers and driving farmers to become rich": Establish a benefit-sharing mechanism of "winery + cooperative + farmers", formulate differentiated purchase prices according to the quality grade of grapes, so as to stimulate the planting enthusiasm of farmers; cooperate with wineries to carry out "secondary dividend", return part of the profits from wine sales to farmers, and enhance the binding relationship between the two sides; participate in the appellation's germplasm resource protection project, select and breed high-quality grape varieties suitable for the local climate, so as to enhance the market competitiveness of raw materials.
4.4 Professional Service Institutions
"I am the professional supporter of industrial upgrading, helping wineries reduce costs and increase efficiency"
Local service providers are the implementation support for the policy goal of "strengthening science and technology and promoting innovation". They need to take "professional empowerment and customized services" as the core to provide targeted solutions for wineries.
Tackle key technical problems and respond to the call of "prospering the wine industry with science and technology": The oenology technical consultant team can cooperate with universities (School of Wine and Horticulture, Ningxia University) and scientific research institutions to provide wineries with terroir-adapted brewing process optimization schemes, helping wineries highlight local flavor characteristics; the winery design and construction team can closely follow the government's requirements on the architectural style of the appellation, create winery architectures with both terroir characteristics and modern aesthetics, and avoid the stereotyped Western-style style; the digital service provider can develop an intelligent management system suitable for wineries, realizing the digitalization of the whole links of planting, brewing and sales.
Integrate resources and practice the concept of "collaborative innovation": Provide "one-stop" services for wineries to reduce their procurement costs and communication costs; actively connect with the government's industrial support policies, strive for subsidies for wineries in technical transformation, green transformation and other aspects, so as to achieve a three-way win-win situation of "service institution - winery - government"; track the cutting-edge technologies and trends of the domestic and foreign wine industry, timely provide wineries with technical upgrading suggestions, so as to help wineries maintain competitiveness.
4.5 Appellation Cultural Tourism Institutions
"I am the resource integrator of business form integration, and I want to promote the monetization of 'Wine + Cultural Tourism'"
Appellation cultural tourism institutions are the key promoters of the policy goal of "promoting integration and prospering business forms". They need to take "resource connection, brand marketing, and customer source diversion" as the core to activate the consumption potential of appellation cultural tourism.
Connect cultural tourism resources and respond to the call of "building a wine tourism destination": Integrate high-quality wineries, cultural tourism attractions and characteristic homestay resources in the appellation, design high-quality tourism routes of "winery tasting + Great Wall hiking + Yellow River viewing"; connect with health care enterprises to build vineyard healing communities; cooperate with domestic and foreign travel agencies and OTA platforms to launch appellation wine tourism packages to attract tourists for in-depth experience; build an appellation tourist service center to provide tourists with one-stop services such as winery guided tours and tasting reservations.
Strengthen brand marketing and practice the concept of "conveying the voice of the appellation": Plan characteristic activities such as the appellation wine culture festival and winery marathon, promote and publicize through short video platforms, travel bloggers and other channels, so as to enhance the popularity and attractiveness of the appellation; cooperate with wineries to develop appellation cultural and creative products, combine wine elements with Ningxia's Yellow River culture and Western Xia culture, so as to extend the cultural tourism industrial chain; collect tourists' experience feedback, optimize the design of tourism routes, improve tourist satisfaction, and promote the transformation from "one-time check-in" to "repeated consumption".
5. Key Consensus on the Collaborative Development of Core Market Entities in the Appellation
The author believes that undertaking the "15th Five-Year Plan" development deployment of Ningxia's wine industry is not only a "following the trend" opportunity for entrepreneurs to grasp policy dividends, but also an "inevitable choice" to achieve their own high-quality development. Whether it is winery owners, channel operators, grape-growing farmers, local service providers or appellation cultural tourism institutions, they all need to keep three core consensuses in mind:
Abandon the zero-sum game thinking: All entities need to clarifythe concept of "a prosperous appellation means prosperous enterprises", and reduce operating costs and enhance overall competitiveness through resource sharing and complementary advantages.
Establish a normalized communication mechanism: Hold regular industrial chain coordination meetings to timely solve the pain points and problems in cooperation, so as to ensure that policy dividends are accurately transmitted to all links of the industrial chain.
Adhere to the long-term orientation: Brand building and terroir cultivation cannot be achieved in a single day. All entities need to focus on the long term, jointly guard the brand value of "Helan Mountain Eastern Foothill Wine", and realize the sustainable development of the industry.
6. Conclusion
From the core leadership of winery owners to the deep cultivation of the market by channel operators, from the quality adherence at the planting end to the professional empowerment of service providers, and then to the resource integration of cultural tourism institutions, the high-quality development of Ningxia's wine industry is inseparable from the practical efforts of every interest community.
All parties must firmly grasp three core consensuses: first, adhere to the "coordinated planning across the appellation", abandon the zero-sum game thinking, reduce operating costs through resource sharing and complementary advantages, and enhance the overall competitiveness of the appellation; second, establish a normalized communication mechanism, hold regular industrial chain coordination meetings, timely solve the pain points in cooperation, and ensure that policy dividends are accurately transmitted to every link; third, adhere to the long-term orientation, brand building, terroir cultivation and consumer culture cultivation cannot be achieved in a single day, we need to focus on the long term and jointly guard the brand value of "Helan Mountain Eastern Foothill Wine".
Policies are the sails, and practical work is the oars. As long as wineries and all market entities find their role positioning, implement action measures, and gather synergy, they will surely transform policy dividends into industrial advantages, let the wine from the Helan Mountain Eastern Foothill bloom its unique charm in the global market, and truly undertake the era mission of leading Chinese wine to "astonish the world with its extraordinary splendor".
Reference
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Author's Bibliography
Dr. Jiajia Pan completed his undergraduate studies at Université Blaise Pascal (Clermont-Ferrand II) in France and Copenhagen Business School in Denmark, earned his master's degrees from Université Jean Moulin (Lyon III) in France and Lingnan College of Sun Yat-sen University, and obtained his doctoral degree from The Education University of Hong Kong.
He holds the national first-level oenologist and national first-level wine taster qualifications in China, and also serves as a winery investor and publisher. He is currently an off-campus supervisor for master's programs at the School of Tourism Management of Sun Yat-sen University, the School of Tourism of Xinjiang University, the School of Tourism Management of South China Normal University, the School of Wine and Horticulture of Ningxia University, and Burgundy School of Business.
With 20 years of experience in the wine industry, his business scope covers international trade, brand marketing, market sales, winery investment, cultural communication and professional personnel training and education.
In terms of academic achievements, he is the co-editor-in-chief of the China Wine Industry Integrated Development Report (Blue Book of China Wine Industry), and has edited and published multiple wine-related textbooks and books including Sommelier Service and Management and Tasting Chinese Wine. He initiated the "China Wine Academy" program, which promotes the global outreach of Chinese wine brands and culture by building an international education system for Chinese wine.
His research interests cover wine marketing, wine tourism, wine sensory evaluation, wine supply chain management and vocational education. He also serves as the editor-in-chief of the Chinese-English journals Global Cases and Practices of Vocational Education and Commentary on China's Wine Industry.