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Moutai in brouhaha over claim to be China's No. 1 distiller
By Ni Tao |
August 17, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
HOW much Chinese culture is condensed into a drop of 106-proof alcohol that it's worth the honor of being crowned as a national drink?
That question is raised by the controversy surrounding Moutai's recent bid to claim the title of China's sole national liquor.
Meng Qiliang, deputy governor of Guizhou Province where Moutai is manufactured, was mortified by the wave of opposition to the distillery's application. He told a press conference last Thursday that he couldn't understand the kerfuffle over the move to claim a laurel for the fiery liquor that is arguably the province's most famous product.
Moutai's bid drew ire mostly from its famous rivals such as Wuliangye of Sichuan Province, Fen liquor of Shanxi Province, and Dukang of Shaanxi Province, Dukang being named after a legendary winemaker.
These distilleries object to Moutai's ambitions on the grounds it has been priced out of the reach of most Chinese; they say recognizing such a luxury product as a national drink would be seriously misleading.
Last year, the retail price of ultra-premium, aged, 106-proof Moutai rose to as high as 3,000 yuan (US$471) a bottle. Collectors' bottles of aged Moutai cost even more and are sold at auction.
Whatever its rivals' motives, Moutai's supporters, among whom Deputy Governor Meng counts himself, have stood firmly behind the brand with lavish, fulsome praise.
"Moutai has a great taste, and doesn't give you headache and affect your work. This is common sense," Meng said.
Meng is either really good at holding his liquor or perhaps he drank one cup too many before his press conference. Otherwise, he couldn't have babbled such nonsense about a brand of spirit as potent as vodka and Scotch.
He went on to say, "Guizhou is a remote, resource-strapped, and impoverished place. It's hard to have a business that can earn a little money."
Little money
What Meng referred to as "a little money" actually ran to 8.76 billion yuan (US$1.38 billion) in Moutai's net profits last year. And mind you, Moutai has sponsored a local football team that in July splurged 6 million yuan on players' bonus for a single victory, not to mention the money spent on its big player signings every year.
As if his comments were not outrageous enough, Meng said that "Moutai's exorbitant prices have nothing to do with official banquets." Any lingering doubt that he has become a Moutai flack has been banished.
For a long time Moutai's prices have been pushed up to astronomical levels, thanks mostly to official spending, so much so that throwing a banquet without Moutai is considered incomplete and politically suicidal.
Official demand has turned the liquor into a luxury item that only those who dine at public expense can afford.
The best retort to Meng's hogwash is that since Moutai was banned from official banquets early this year, its prices have plummeted.
The Yangtze Evening News reported last month that compared with last year, the average price of Moutai has tumbled from 3,000 yuan to 1,300 yuan.
Maybe the steep price decline has given Meng sleepless nights. With fiscal revenues draining fast, he felt compelled to throw his weight behind the liquor no matter what.
And it appears that his audacity, and that of the distillery, will be rewarded.
After nine failed attempts to secure the crowning glory, Moutai was recently granted the permission by industry and commerce authorities to use national endorsement in its trademark, pending three months of review. If by that time rival distilleries fail to reverse the decision, Moutai will get its coveted status.
Apparently there's a lot of lobbying behind Moutai's success in obtaining the necessary paperwork, but behind its endorsement there are many people and businesses who stand to lose.
To begin with, honoring Moutai alone discriminates unfairly against other brands and violates the free market principles that industry watchdogs are supposed to safeguard.
Moreover, Moutai's quality is increasingly in doubt, given that the upper and middle reaches of the river from which the distillery sources its water are flanked by heavily polluting factories. And there is also the very real concern about what Moutai hopes to do with its new, more glamorous branding.
Does it reckon that it is a sign of state backing and will boost sales?
Will that laurel one day exempt the spirit from the consumption ban at official banquets?
These questions need to be answered, as Moutai busies itself with an advertising blitz in response to flagging sales.
The efforts to brand itself out of its current economic woes have backfired, because excessive branding only increases people's disgust and indignation.
It's a pity that the distiller has lost touch with the old saying that "the aroma of good liquor emanating from a tavern deep down an alley is its best advertisement."
The problem is that the "tavern" is now a multi-billion-dollar business, and it is the odor of political symbolism and the pomp of its products that precede them, rather than the aroma for which they are so famous.
That question is raised by the controversy surrounding Moutai's recent bid to claim the title of China's sole national liquor.
Meng Qiliang, deputy governor of Guizhou Province where Moutai is manufactured, was mortified by the wave of opposition to the distillery's application. He told a press conference last Thursday that he couldn't understand the kerfuffle over the move to claim a laurel for the fiery liquor that is arguably the province's most famous product.
Moutai's bid drew ire mostly from its famous rivals such as Wuliangye of Sichuan Province, Fen liquor of Shanxi Province, and Dukang of Shaanxi Province, Dukang being named after a legendary winemaker.
These distilleries object to Moutai's ambitions on the grounds it has been priced out of the reach of most Chinese; they say recognizing such a luxury product as a national drink would be seriously misleading.
Last year, the retail price of ultra-premium, aged, 106-proof Moutai rose to as high as 3,000 yuan (US$471) a bottle. Collectors' bottles of aged Moutai cost even more and are sold at auction.
Whatever its rivals' motives, Moutai's supporters, among whom Deputy Governor Meng counts himself, have stood firmly behind the brand with lavish, fulsome praise.
"Moutai has a great taste, and doesn't give you headache and affect your work. This is common sense," Meng said.
Meng is either really good at holding his liquor or perhaps he drank one cup too many before his press conference. Otherwise, he couldn't have babbled such nonsense about a brand of spirit as potent as vodka and Scotch.
He went on to say, "Guizhou is a remote, resource-strapped, and impoverished place. It's hard to have a business that can earn a little money."
Little money
What Meng referred to as "a little money" actually ran to 8.76 billion yuan (US$1.38 billion) in Moutai's net profits last year. And mind you, Moutai has sponsored a local football team that in July splurged 6 million yuan on players' bonus for a single victory, not to mention the money spent on its big player signings every year.
As if his comments were not outrageous enough, Meng said that "Moutai's exorbitant prices have nothing to do with official banquets." Any lingering doubt that he has become a Moutai flack has been banished.
For a long time Moutai's prices have been pushed up to astronomical levels, thanks mostly to official spending, so much so that throwing a banquet without Moutai is considered incomplete and politically suicidal.
Official demand has turned the liquor into a luxury item that only those who dine at public expense can afford.
The best retort to Meng's hogwash is that since Moutai was banned from official banquets early this year, its prices have plummeted.
The Yangtze Evening News reported last month that compared with last year, the average price of Moutai has tumbled from 3,000 yuan to 1,300 yuan.
Maybe the steep price decline has given Meng sleepless nights. With fiscal revenues draining fast, he felt compelled to throw his weight behind the liquor no matter what.
And it appears that his audacity, and that of the distillery, will be rewarded.
After nine failed attempts to secure the crowning glory, Moutai was recently granted the permission by industry and commerce authorities to use national endorsement in its trademark, pending three months of review. If by that time rival distilleries fail to reverse the decision, Moutai will get its coveted status.
Apparently there's a lot of lobbying behind Moutai's success in obtaining the necessary paperwork, but behind its endorsement there are many people and businesses who stand to lose.
To begin with, honoring Moutai alone discriminates unfairly against other brands and violates the free market principles that industry watchdogs are supposed to safeguard.
Moreover, Moutai's quality is increasingly in doubt, given that the upper and middle reaches of the river from which the distillery sources its water are flanked by heavily polluting factories. And there is also the very real concern about what Moutai hopes to do with its new, more glamorous branding.
Does it reckon that it is a sign of state backing and will boost sales?
Will that laurel one day exempt the spirit from the consumption ban at official banquets?
These questions need to be answered, as Moutai busies itself with an advertising blitz in response to flagging sales.
The efforts to brand itself out of its current economic woes have backfired, because excessive branding only increases people's disgust and indignation.
It's a pity that the distiller has lost touch with the old saying that "the aroma of good liquor emanating from a tavern deep down an alley is its best advertisement."
The problem is that the "tavern" is now a multi-billion-dollar business, and it is the odor of political symbolism and the pomp of its products that precede them, rather than the aroma for which they are so famous.
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