Moutai Flies High with Camus Deal(1)
Chinese liquor producer Kweichow Moutai has forged an agreement with Camus Wine Group, a top French wine merchant, to sell its popular Moutai liquor at the latter's airport duty-free shops across the world.
The two firms said they expect annual sales of Moutai in duty-free shops to touch $15 million within five years.
The deal followed a successful agreement between the two partners from 2004 to 2008, when Camus, the owner and operator of the fourth largest chain of duty-free shops in the world, helped introduce Moutai into some select outlets in Europe, North America and Asia, including three of the global top five outlets in Paris, New York and Seoul, according to Zhao Shuyue, a senior executive of China Kweichow Moutai.
Moutai's supplies to Camus increased from 1,000 boxes (12 bottles) in 2004 to 10,000 in 2008. Sales of the duty-free only Moutai wine reached $7.5 million in 2008.
Only premium products from the Chinese distiller will be sold at the airport duty-free shops, the French company said. These include a special blend of selected batches of products to achieve what the master blenders at the distiller consider to be of the most harmonious aroma and taste.
A bottle of this particular blend sells for $80 for 375 ml, compared with the average price of $50 for the less exotic variety.
Camus is the largest overseas agency of the Guizhou-based distiller. Compared with other distribution channels, Zhao said he prefers duty-free shops because it can help popularize the brand among high-end consumers around the world.
Cyril Camus, current CEO and a direct descendant of the founder of the family-owned French wine maker, said sales at its duty-free shops around the world exceeded $34 billion last year, including $6 billion from wine alone.
