NEWS
CHINA’S MOUTAI WINE COMPANY SEEKS TO EXPAND TO ITALY
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
14-1-2019
A delegation of Moutai Wine Company (MWC), the wine making arm of the world’s most valuable spirit producer Kweichow Moutai, has paid a visit to Italy with a view to expand production to the country as part of its strategy to go global.
Led by General Manager Feng Cheng, the delegation was received by former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema and China’s Ambassador to Italy Li Ruiyu.
It is understood that the MWC is seeking to establish a production base in Italy, possibly in vineyards owned by Mr D’Alema himself, to help the company diversify and to upgrade its products.
Apart from being a senior Italian politician, Mr D’Alema is also a wine expert and is owner of Cantina La Madeleine in Southern Umbria.
It is believed that both sides have sealed further agreements in the latest Italian visit after initial talks with Mr D’Alema in Beijing last September.
MWC’s mother company Kweichow Moutai has in recent years embarked on a strategy of going global. Its lesser known wine making arm also adopted a global strategy, seeking to expand their production overseas then sell products back to China.
The company acquired Château Loudenne in Bordeaux in 2013 and later signed a strategic partnership with Viñedos Marchigue in the Calchagua wine region of Chile.
Established in 2002 with registered capital of 268 million yuan, the MWC is 60% controlled by Kweichow Moutai Group.
The wine company’s revenue soared to RMB 304 million in 2012, but had been in decline since to around RMB100 million because of the anti-graft campaign started by President Xi Jinping.
Sales recovered to around RMB200 million in 2017 when the company declared its targets of hitting the top 3 spots in domestic sales in 3 years and getting listed in 5 years time.
(the writer can be contacted at: SLawMathews@thewinechronicle.com)
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