Belgium & China: Duvel Moortgat’s products enjoying strong demand in China

Belgium’s Duvel Moortgat is enjoying a strong growth in demand for its products in China, despite the fact that prices of imported products are much higher than those of the local brands, Retail Detail Belgique reported on December 24.

When the company started to ship its beers to China in 2007, total volumes only amounted to 200 hl, but 2013 saw already several containers dispatched to China. “Our target for 2013 is at about half the volume we ship to the US. If we continue at this rate, we will surpass the British market in four years,” Moortgat’s General Director, Vincent Smits, said.

In China, Moortgat’s most popular brands are Vedette, Achouffe, and Liefmans Fruitesse. It’s mostly white beer – sweet and not too bitter or strong - that is enjoying such a success, the company said.

Duvel Moortgat does not intend to start brewing Duvel beer in any other parts of the world. “If you brew it elsewhere, it will be difficult to call it “Belgian beer”. Only a beer destined exclusively for local consumption in China could be produced in China,” Nick Papa, Sales Manager China North, said.

03 January, 2014