China: China’s beer market inspires optimism in EU craft brewers

Eddie Schweda, the owner of Danish microbrewery, Midtfyns Bryghus, has just returned from a promotional tour to China, where his products are already selling well, GBTimes reported on December 8.

“We had beer tastings in Shanghai and Chiangsha where we got a very positive response,” he said.

“Chinese consumers are very responsive to our products. They demand more quality than what the typical binge-drinking products can offer and understand that specialized beers are products of enjoyment,” Eddie Schweda explains.

China is already a huge beer market with the Chinese consuming 54 billion litres of beer in 2014, the majority made by domestic producers. According to a EU-SME report, China also imported 335 million litres of beer, a year-on-year increase of 85.4 per cent.

The majority of China's beer import is, according to the report, coming out of European breweries, and estimates say that the Chinese growth in beer import is only going to increase.

“Everything we see and everything we hear points to that direction,” says Eddie Schweda. “There are many copied products on the Chinese market, but the Chinese consumer demands more than that. More Chinese consumers can afford to buy imported beer, and they do that because they want to be sure that it’s a quality product with real ingredients.”

According to the EU SME report, which quotes global market researcher Euromonitor, “disposable incomes in China are forecast to grow by double digits from 2013 to 2018, meaning that more people will be able to afford beer.”

This trend makes Eddie Schweda look confidently towards the future. He feels that even though the Chinese market is relatively new for him and his microbrewery, they have found their footing.

“Through our engagement in the badminton tournament Denmark Open, we had the opportunity to invite the Chinese ambassador to Denmark to a brewery tour and beer tasting. This has helped us greatly and opened some doors for us, as the Chinese are very focused on relationships,” says Eddie Schweda, who seems ready to strike while the iron is hot.

He has been travelling to China two times a year to show presence in the market and to build his brand. Having arrived back in Denmark less than 24 hours ago, Eddie Schweda is already planning his next business trip to China.

“I am going back to China in the spring to do more beer tastings and promotion for our products,” he tells. He is currently delivering 40,000 bottles of beer per year to the Chinese market, but looking to the future, Eddie Schweda is not afraid of aiming high. Actually, he believes that you have to do that when dealing with the Chinese market.

“We aim for an output of 150,000 bottles to the Chinese market within three to five years, which will make China our main market” he states. Knowing that the Chinese import of beer increased 426 per cent from 2012 to 2014, Eddie Schweda’s optimism is understandable.

09 December, 2015