E-Malt.com News article: USA & China: China - an opportunity market for the US beer exports

Chinese beer connoisseurs are bored by the same old macrobrews they've been drinking for years. They are ready for some variety - a potentially huge market for American brewers if they can elbow out Europeans in the race to quench Chinese drinkers' thirst, Oregonlive reported on March 24.

Perhaps Portland-based Lompoc Brewing could tweak the "Proletariat Red" label to match the Cultural Revolution posters ubiquitous at tourist-y markets in China in effort to capture some of the $5 million in sales projected for 2017.

A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture said now is the time to market to Chinese middle-class consumers and educate them on the unique qualities of Northwest beers. According to the U.S. Brewers Association, U.S. breweries exported $1.15 million of beer - about 505,206 liters - to China.

Imported beers from the U.S. and Europe are also considered safer by some middle-class, urban Chinese residents.

Some Oregon breweries already started tapping into the Chinese market. The Craft Brew Alliance, which operates Portland breweries Widmer and Omission, announced in 2012 it planned to expand to Asia. China and Hong Kong, as well as Japan, Taiwan and several European countries were on the list of new markets.

Rogue is already sold in Japan, and is often catching U.S. and international eyes with its flashy bottle designs and quirky flavors.

The USDA's report recommends an approach similar to Rogue's, which initially sought to place bottles behind the bars of high-end restaurants and hotels in Shanghai, a diverse and wealthy part of China.

The challenge is aggressive promotion for small craft breweries that might not think much about their international strategy.

According to the report, U.S. wine makers failed to grab a significant portion of the Chinese imported wine market when the opportunity presented itself, and growth crawled along each year. France and Australia took the lead, leaving the U.S. in 2013 with $74 million in revenue, compared to France's $658 and Australia's $226.

Also in 2013, the U.S. ranked 6th in Chinese beer imports, with about 3.8 percent of the market. Leaders like Germany, with 59 percent, and Belgium, with 7 percent, are smoking the U.S.


27 March, 2015