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WORLD SAKE DAY: CHINA OVERTOOK HK AS SAKE’S MOST VALUABLE EXPORT MARKET

By Tony Zhu

3-10-2022



Source: Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association

As sake lovers around the world celebrated the 44th World Sake Day on 1 October over the weekend, it emerged that mainland China has overtaken Hong Kong as sake’s biggest importer by value, having imported ¥10.6 billion (USD73 million) worth of sakes in 2021.

Hong Kong was the biggest export market for sake in 2020, having imported ¥6b worth of sake despite the world was mired in the height of COVID 19 pandemic.

The USA was the 3rd biggest sake importing country last year after having topped the ranking from 2012 to 2019, before losing the top position to Hong Kong in 2020.

USA’s sake import value has dropped since the pandemic and never recovered beyond the ¥6.7b value recorded in 2019.

Overall, the Asian region has been traditionally the biggest consumer of Japanese sake outside of Japan, with market share topping 60 percent of total sake exports in 2019. While, the USA accounted for about 26 percent of the overall market.

Some of the more important markets for Japanese sake in Asia are South Korea and Taiwan with Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia slowly catching up.

Japan’s domestic consumption of sake has been in steady decline since 1970s. It was during this time that sake producers started to promote this traditional category worldwide.

The World Sake Day is part of their promotional efforts. Started by the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association in 1978, the annual celebration has gained traction every year with events taking place in almost every corners of the world.

1st of October was chosen because October is considered the best time in the year to begin making sake, before the coming of winter and the cold weather which is good for sake fermentation.

Export volume of sake has grown 53 percent between 2014 and 2019, yet the market share of sake exports remains very low, accounting for just about 5 percent of national output. The export trade of sake still has a lot of room to grow.

(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)

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