"As a fast-growing market, China can't be neglected by any winery," Henriëtte Jacobs, the international sales manager of Spier Wine Farm, told the Global Times, adding that the company's exports to China have continued to grow exponentially during the recent years, and the Chinese market is becoming one of the company's most important strategic markets.
Jacobs' remark speaks for multiple wineries from South Africa, who have been adopting various strategies and tactics in a bid to get a slice of the emerging Chinese market.
For instance, Spier has been taking several approaches specifically targeting Chinese consumers, such as designing easy-to-open caned wines to attract Chinese youth, crafting wine labels based on Chinese Zodiacs, opening its official account on WeChat, China's largest social media platform, and deploying employees to promote wine products in China.
Appealing market
The exports of Australian wine plunged by 95 percent at the end of 2020 after China imposed anti-dumping measures on the country's wine exports, causing Australia to forfeit its leading position for wine imports in the massive Chinese market. Industry insiders noted that this could be a potential opportunity for South African wines.
"Honestly speaking, every wine producing region and country wants to get a growing slice of the pie of the Chinese wine market, but a stable bilateral relationship is a perquisite and basic guarantee which South Africa has an advantage," Marcus Ford, Asia market manager of Wines of South Africa (WOSA), told the Global Times.
Ford added that China and South Africa are important economies in Asia and Africa with very warm trade relations, while the quality of South African wine enjoys acclaimed reputation in the Chinese market.
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