The sale of Australian wine in China is being driven by an increase in the number of Chinese wine drinkers buying imported wine in the off-premise and consuming it at home.
Findings come from a three-year study by the University of South Australia’s Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science funded by Wine Australia, which is nearing completion.
Professor of Wine Marketing at Ehrenberg-Bass Larry Lockshin leads research into marketing related to consumer choice, packaging and retailing, said that the off-premise growth in China represents a huge opportunity for Australia's wine industry.
“It was assumed when we started this project that on-premise, especially western restaurants in China, would be the driving force behind wine consumption but what we’ve seen over the survey is that more wine is being consumed off-premise, which means people are buying it online, in wine shops and to some degree grocery stores than the last few years,” Professor Lockshin told The Lead South Australia.
“People are moving from wine as purely a drink for formal occasions where eight or 10 people would share a bottle by having a “little teeny glass” each at a special occasion like a wedding or business function. Then the occasions started to become less formal.”
“That’s the part where the Australian wine industry needs to ask itself ‘what kind of retail channels are going to access that growing trend?’."