The 2020 Women in Wine & Spirits Award Forum is jointly held in Shenzhen on November 20th, with strategic partner Wine to Asia. The themed forum was presented around Corporate Social Responsibility Practice and Consumer Trends and Market Insights, with 8 speakers from leading international corporation, e-commerce, wine education and data monitoring company. The topics attracted over 200 audiences and became the highlights of the trade show.

As the first of its kinds, Women in Wine & Spirits Award (WINWSA) was initiated by Michelle LIU in January 2020 with the singular mission: to recognize, connect and honor the accomplished female professionals who have contributed to shape the wine & spirits industry today. As part of its annual program, WINWSA forum is committed to establishing a platform for exchange of innovative development, connecting local and global professionals and think tanks, focusing on the next moves of wine & spirits industry, paying attention to the consumer behavioral evolvement, grasping local market transformations and embracing changes through global vision.

Keynote speakers for CSR practice include Kathie WANG, Vice President of PR & Communications of Pernod Ricard China, Lizhong CHEN, owner of Tiansai Winery, Maria ZHANG, Viticulture Manager of DFC/Canaan Winery. Keynote speakers for Consumer Trends and Market Insights include Michelle LIU, founder of Women in Wine & Spirits Award, Fongyee WALKER, MW & Co-founder of Dragon Phoenix Wine Consluting, Shanyue HAN, Deputy Director of Shanghai FMCG Monitoring, David LIU, Principal of Wine Academy of JD University, Chaoyang SHAO, Founder of 9Kacha.

SUSTAINABILITY: to protect our earth and our wines

2020 has seen an acceleration in the evolution of the role of CSR from a compliance or public relations function to one clearly aligned with the organization’s strategy. “It is not only a strategy to reinforce the brand’s or corporation’s identity, it also serves as the cornerstone of the organization’s core values.” Michelle LIU, Founder of WINWSA said.

Keynote speakers for CSR practice include Kathie WANG, Vice President of PR & Communications of Pernod Ricard China, Lizhong CHEN, owner of Tiansai Winery, Maria ZHANG, Viticulture Manager of DFC/Canaan Winery.

The presentation shared by Kathie WANG, VP of PR & Communications of Pernod Ricard China, showcased a systematic and long-term CSR commitment and how it sustains a strong corporate culture. The group has risen to the challenge of reconciling financial efficiency, respect for stakeholders, environmental protection, consumer protection and cultural awareness.

The CSR initiatives from Chinese wineries are more focused on employee welfares and environment protection. Tiansai Winery from Xin Jiang and Canaan Winery from Huai Lai both shared their soil protection and functional biodiversity boost plan.

Consumer Trends and Key Find-outs of China’s Wine & Spirits Market

The topic was rolled out with a round table discussion, curated by Michelle LIU, with other guest speakers Fongyee WALKER, MW & Co-founder of Phoenix-Dragon Wine Education, Shanyue HAN, Deputy Director of Shanghai FMCG Monitoring, Chaoyang SHAO, Founder of 9Kacha and David LIU, Principal of Wine Academy of JD University.

The room was completed with enthusiastic audiences as the key words raised during this session are the reflections of the market evolvement. The post Covid-19 wine & spirits consumption showed the recovery of the market in China, especially in Q2 and Q3. The market is further fragmented, with more new niche sections emerging, such as small wine regions, natural wines and RTD cocktails. As the millennial generation, even the Z generation (born after 95’s) move front and center, wine marketers are working overtime to cultivate their loyalty.

“The consumer trends shifted: a sharp increase on off-premise consumption as well as more drinking occasion focused segmentation.” Michelle LIU concluded, “The consumer-centric approach has been the emphasis for several years and everyone talked about the importance of being omnipresent-online or offline, we definitely see these are accelerated and those companies who moved first secured the leadership.”

Fongyee WALKER, MW & Co-founder of Phoenix-Dragon Wine Education said, “I am glad to see the improvement of quality in Chinese wines. They are taking more market shares on domestic market.” Shao Chaoyang, Founder of 9Kacha demonstrated important figures from wine search through web. “Premiumization in the 1st-tier cities is happening, but we also noticed the growing interest from those young consumers in 3rd-4th tier cities.”

Female drinkers have been one of the key researches conducted by Shanghai FMCG Monitoring. The responsible, Shanyue HAN commented on the increase of female wine consumers and this particular potential market in China. “With economic and social independence, female consumers are getting more important. Unlike male consumers, they have different set of criteria for purchase and consumption decision.”