Zibo barbecue drives the carnival of the Chinese beer industry

Barbecue + beer, a pair of golden partners at night market stalls. Recently, with the "barbecue craze" driven by Zibo barbecue, beer has also been favored, adding a touch of color to the recovery of the industry.

Since the beginning of this year, the recovery trend of the beer industry has been significant. Even in the first quarter of the traditional off-season, the performance of many listed wine companies has hit a record high. With the arrival of the peak season, the volume and price of beer will rise together, which has become the general expectation of the industry.

Industry insiders told the Securities Times reporter that after the epidemic, the offline ready-to-drink market has recovered significantly, which has brought impetus to beer consumption. At the same time, the market structure of the beer industry has been continuously optimized, and the sales of high-end beer have grown rapidly, becoming a new engine for the performance growth of wine companies.

Since March this year, Zibo barbecue has continued to be popular, and diners from all over the world have been pouring into Zibo to taste the long-lost "fireworks".

Barbecues are on fire, so beer is naturally indispensable. In the army of "going to Zizi for roasting", in addition to diners from all over the world, there are also major beer companies.

On the eve of May 1st, when the reporter visited Zibo, he noticed that in the high-speed rail, bus stations and major business districts, including Tsingtao Brewery, China Resources Beer, Taishan Puree Beer and other wine companies, promotion and marketing were carried out through various methods such as advertisements and local promotions. In many barbecue compound in Zibo, on various signs and slogans, the most exposed ones are either "bbq" or "beer". In front of every barbecue shop there must be a "high wall" piled up of beer boxes.

The owner of a barbecue shop also told reporters that in addition to grilled skewers, beer is also the main sales force. "A shop that usually sells 10 cases of beer can easily double or triple its beer sales during holidays."

In a sense, this round of "barbecue fever" has also become a carnival for wine companies.

Tsingtao Brewery Secretary Zhang Ruixiang told reporters that in the first quarter of this year, Tsingtao Brewery was in short supply in Zibo. "In February and March this year, since Zibo's barbecue was booming, we have actively made some corresponding follow-ups. Our sales staff have been very tired recently, because the sales volume has increased a lot compared with previous years. Although Tsingtao Brewery also has a local factory in Zibo, due to the hot sales, Products from local factories cannot be supplied, so we transport products there from Qingdao."

It is understood that Zibo is the base market of Tsingtao Brewery, with a market share of about 80%. In the first quarter of this year, the sales growth of Tsingtao Brewery’s Shandong market was higher than the company’s national sales growth data, and the growth rate was also much higher than the industry average. level. Zhang Ruixiang said that Tsingtao Brewery has a high distribution rate in the local product portfolio. In addition, Tsingtao Brewery also attaches great importance to and actively expands consumption scenarios represented by night market stalls and barbecues in the national market.

Manager Li, a wine distributor in Shandong, told reporters that since March, the demand for local beer in Zibo has been very high, and "explosive orders" often occur. "Now, in addition to Zibo, barbecues in many areas of Shandong and Jiangsu have also become popular, and the demand for beer is also increasing."

Manager Li said: "The beer market can improve this year, largely because of the recovery of offline consumption scenes after the epidemic. Because the consumption scene characteristics of beer are very obvious, it can stimulate social consumption by creating interpersonal interactions. It’s easy to drink more when you get there, so as the smell of fireworks continues to increase everywhere, the sales of alcohol continue to increase.”