Spanish vineyards target China's wine drinkers

According to Robert Tinlot, Honorary General Manager of Spain's International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), China is set to eventually become the world's premier consumer market for wines and is already the fastest growing globally. He sees Hong Kong as the strategic gateway to unlocking that vast potential market, with the territory an established centre for wines in its own right.

 

The Spanish Wine Market Observatory (OEMV) shows wines exported to Hong Kong soared 80% in value to Euros300 million in the year to April 2009, rising 31% in sales.

 

That was mainly down to Hong Kong's abolition of its 40% duty on wine in February 2008, allowing global players to take advantage of the territory's logistics, finance and infrastructure capabilities to set up wine trades.

 

However, Spanish vineyards and distributors currently rank eighth as wine traders into Hong Kong, well behind market leaders France and the UK. The Director General of OEMV, Rafael del Rey, sees that position changing with Spanish companies more often holding presentations, tastings and symposia to increase their commercial networks.

 

Spanish distributors are prioritising their target markets as Hong Kong, Singapore and Chinese mainland coastal cities in Asia, as these have more progressive lifestyles and consumers possess greater discretionary purchasing power.

 

Wines from Spain could penetrate both the Chinese mainland quality and mass markets. Spanish distributors also expect to build sales for re-distribution from China to the rest of the region under different pricing approaches.