In the first months of 2024, wine exports to China increased 12 percent, already totaling two million euros, a great sign, according to Sónia Vieira, marketing director of ViniPortugal.
“Since 2017, we had been losing market share and for the first time, we have a recovery trend here,” she exclaims. “Last year we exported 7.8 million euros to this market, it is already our twentieth market, so 2 million in the first three months is good news.”
Founded in 1996, ViniPortugal, or the Interprofessional Association of Portuguese Wines, aims to promote the international image of Portugal as a wine-producing country.
Beijing, where a large part of the country’s importers are concentrated, is one of the major focuses of the Portuguese wine industry, but Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu are also important cities. China is considered one of the 21 priority markets for ViniPortugal. Despite the limited budget, the association intends to use Macau as a lever for expansion in this market.
Entry through Macau
The organization has allocated between 400 and 500 thousand euros annually to promote Portuguese wines in China, mainly in Shanghai and Macau. “The annual presence in Macau is now a priority, since the city already has an established base of Portuguese wine consumers,” she added.
“It wasn’t always like this. Before we were in Macau every three years, but we realized we had to do a different job.” On May 23 this year, for example, ViniPortugal organized an event at the Ritz Carlton in Macau, with the presence of 13 Portuguese companies. “The purpose of these tastings is to show and create conditions for producers to do business in a first phase, and in a second phase to be able to show Portuguese wines to local consumers,” she states.
According to Vieira, Macau can be the “great showcase” for the entry of wines into the interior of China, being a market where Portuguese brands are already known, with shelves in stores and supermarkets full of Portuguese wines. A context that contrasts with Guangzhou, “where we are still trying to create our shelf space, with a totally different job,” she describes.
However, she explains that “Macau lives a lot from continental tourism,” and that visitors from the Mainland in the MSAR “are faced with a great visibility of Portuguese wines and this helps the business.” Vieira describes that the most popular Portuguese wine productions in China come from the Douro, Alentejo, and also Port wine. “It is understood, as these are the best known regions. It is normal that they are these, but we are starting to see other regions entering, such as Tejo, Setúbal, Lisbon, which are already part of this ‘top 10’, let’s say, of the regions that sell the most to China,” she emphasizes.
Challenges and Opportunities in the Chinese Market
Vieira pointed to significant differences between the Macau and Mainland markets: “While in Mainland China we still have to convince importers and distributors to have the Portugal category, in Macau the category is already well present.” The challenge in Macau is to convince Chinese consumers to prefer Portuguese wines over French or Italian ones.
“We have to be able to help more with the ‘sell out’, that is, to reach, convince consumers to prefer Portugal to France or other origins,” she describes.
As other obstacles for Portuguese wine producers, she points to the language barrier and the lack of consumer knowledge. “The fact that China is not a specialized market is also a difficulty, because a businessman today imports wine, tomorrow imports shoes. Generally speaking, because there are obviously some long-standing importers, but it is the market where there is less of this specialization.”
The size of the country itself is described as a major challenge, with Vieira advising Portuguese producers to study very well which markets to bet on within China. “What producers have been looking for is regions where the growth of the average price is valued, so higher value wines,” she adds.
The global economic crisis and post-pandemic inflation have also greatly affected the international consumption of wines, with Portugal and China being no exception. “We have a war in Europe, great economic instability, an increase in the cost of living, and that is the biggest challenge right now. Convincing people to consume wine, a non-essential product,” she warns.
However, she believes that the economic situation can even be an advantage for Portuguese wines, as in periods of lower purchasing power, consumers “may discover Portugal as a quality alternative at more affordable prices.”
Meanwhile, the multiple and unique Portuguese grape varieties can be attractive to critics and consumers “already tired of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.”
“The uniqueness of Portuguese wines and the growing curiosity of international consumers are seen as great opportunities,” says Vieira.
“Nowadays we have an increasingly experimental consumer, who likes to travel and when they arrive in Portugal they are impressed with our wines, and then want to reproduce those experiences with their friends, with their local markets.”
