Name: 為什麼打入中國啤酒市場幾乎是不可能的事情？ (Why Breaking Into the Chinese Beer Market Is Almost Impossible | WSJ)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:22:25.000Z
Duration: 6 min 51 s

情態副詞

China is the largest beer market in the world and a particularly hard one to crack.

中國是全球最大的啤酒市場，而且還是難以打進的一個市場。

程度副詞

Global brands have been desperate to sell more here, but you know what, it's really competitive.

世界各地的品牌都渴望可以提高銷售量，但你們知道嗎？市場真的非常競爭。

International beer giants, like Heineken, Carlsberg and Annheuser-Beusch, are in an intense competition with the Chinese giants like Tsingtao and Snow.

國際啤酒大廠牌如：海尼根、嘉士伯、安海斯和中國本土大品牌如：青島、雪花啤酒等有激烈的競爭。

Last year alone, the country consumed 46 billion liters of beer.

只是去年，中國就消耗了 460 億公升的啤酒。

That's about twice as much as in the U.S.

The issue with this market, mostly because it's so competitive, is that it's really hard to make money.

這個市場的問題，主要是過於競爭，難以賺錢。

Consumers here can buy beer for about 30 cents a can in supermarkets.

這裡的消費者在超市花 0.3 塊就可以買到一罐啤酒。

Historically, this is a place with a lot of local business. There's a night market.

從以前開始，這裡一直有很多本地經營的小店，那邊有一個夜市。

Locals will come out here to eat some street food and drink some beer at night.

本地人晚上會出門吃吃街頭小吃、喝喝啤酒。

Chris Wong has been selling beer in the region for the past seven years to wholesale and individual consumers.

過去 7 年，Chris 在這裡當啤酒批發和零售商。

So a lot of people they enter into the China market, seeing a lot of people there, they see a pot of gold.

有很多人都想擁入中國市場，因為他們看中人口眾多，看到遍地黃金。

However, there's a lot of difficulties, right?

People are used to drinking very cheap commercial lagers, just as cheap as water.

很多人都習慣喝跟水一樣便宜的商業拉格啤酒。

International beer makers and start-ups alike want people to drink more expensive beer.

國際啤酒製造廠和新興企業都希望大眾會買較貴的啤酒。

Like IPAs, wheat beers or just regular lagers popped in fancy bottles.

像把淡色艾爾、小麥啤酒或是普通的拉格啤酒注入至華麗的瓶子裡。

These drinks can make up to eleven times more money than the regular beer usually consumed in China.

這些比中國一般消費的啤酒可以多賺 11 倍。

So how do you convince people to spend more money on beer, especially at a time when the Chinese economy is slowing down?

那要怎麼說服大眾花錢買啤酒？尤其是在中國經濟發展減緩的時期？

We do about 1,000 liters per batch every day.

Production has been increasing constantly every month, for the last six years since we've been operating.

從 6 年前開始營運到現在，每個月的生產量不斷持續上升。

Rohit Dugar says that you can't succeed in the market without understanding Chinese consumers.

Dugar 表示倘若不了解中國的消費者，是難以在市場內獲得成功。

The Hong Kong based entrepreneur launched a line of craft beers, called Young Master, that sit at the very top end of the market.

這家香港本地企業推出了一系列的精釀啤酒，稱「少爺麥啤」，品牌位於市場的高端。

His beers sell for up to 20 dollars at bars in large Chinese cities.

在中國大城市的酒吧，他家的啤酒賣 20 塊。

這可是眾多啤酒釀造商的夢想。

He says his rivals don't have a plan like his.

他表示他的對手都沒有像他一樣的計劃。

There are small start-up, much larger breweries, they are viewing China as kind of a quick win.

新興小型企業，或是啤酒釀造商等，他們都認為在中國發展可以快速成功。

The long-term success will be for people who are on the ground putting in fundamental effort.

而長期的成功其實是留給那些基礎打得穩固的人。

So Dugart has developed a clear-cut strategy: make his beers look and taste familiar to Chinese drinkers.

因此，Dugart 設立了一個很明確的策略：啤酒的外觀和味道是符合中國愛喝一族的口味。

The aesthetics we use, everything is kind of informed by local culture.

我們所採用的美學，都是來自本地文化。

We added some salt-cured lime and it's a very common ingredient used locally.

我們加了一些醃製的鹹檸檬，這是本地常用的食材。

People mix it with sodas and drink it in coffee shops.

大家通常會和汽水一起喝，在餐廳都可以喝得到。

Ah that's good. Tastes like something I would drink, like after running a marathon.

嗯…很不錯，像是我會喝的飲料，可能是在跑完馬拉松後。

But not all Chinese consumers are ready to shell out 20 bucks for a luxurious craft beer.

但並不是每一位中國消費者都願意拿出 20 塊去買如此奢侈的精釀啤酒。

我們去訪問了 Matteo Fantacchiotti。

Who manages sales for Carlsberg in Asia, to explain how his company does the job.

他是負責嘉士伯在亞洲區的業務，他要來解釋嘉士伯是怎麼做到的。

這個白啤酒的柑橘味蠻濃郁的。

It pairs well with fine dining group experience.

這和走精緻路線的餐點會很搭。

Carlsberg sells a wide range of beers, and each one is marketed to suit different occasions.

嘉士伯出售不同類型的啤酒，每一種都因應不同的場合而有各自的市場。

So very light, going very well with hot pot and hot cuisine.

味道很淡，和火鍋或辛辣的菜餚是很搭配。

Here are some of Carlsberg's beers you can get at a grocery store.

這些是可以在雜貨店買到的嘉士伯家的啤酒。

The idea is to get people who've been drinking a Wusu for about a buck to upgrade to a Carlsberg.

是希望那些只需花 1 塊購買烏蘇啤酒的人可以升級到購買嘉士伯。

The goal would be to gradually move them all the way up to a 3 dollar Brooklyn lager.

目標是漸漸把價格提升至與 3 塊的布魯克林拉格啤酒一樣。

Beer makers are doing everything they can to stand out.

啤酒商用盡一切可能去突顯自己。

Brands put their logo on the tap right here in front of consumer's faces.

品牌都會把標誌放在這個開關上面面對著客人。

Corona has figured out that limes are key to grabbing people's attention, and Chinese consumers see it as a novelty.

Corona 想到以檸檬作為賣點去抓住大眾的注意力，而中國的消費者也認為這樣的做法很新奇。

It's one of the key reasons why Corona sales, in China, have surged about 25 times over the past four years.

這也是過去 4 年間，Corona 在中國的銷售急升 25 倍的關鍵原因。

Where beer comes from is important to Chinese drinkers.

啤酒來源地對中國的喝酒人士來說是很重要。

Drinking a more premium international brand is a symbol of, first, you can afford it.

喝高級的國際品牌…第一，象徵著你喝得起。

Secondly, you know what to drink. And the local brand will play a significant role because there is the pride, habit of,you know, drinking your local beer brand.

其次，你知道自己要喝什麼，而本地品牌發揮了重要的作用，因為會有優越感。有一個習慣…就是你知道，喝自己本土的啤酒品牌。

An example of super local beer, "Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon."

一個超級本地的啤酒：風花雪月。

Carlsberg has been acquiring local craft breweries like this one in Yunnan.

嘉士伯一直在收購當地的精釀啤酒廠，像在雲南的這一家。

Industry analysts say Chinese consumers are attracted by foreign brands, which has made some, like Budweiser, extremely successful in the region.

有分析指出中國的消費者都被國外品牌吸引，像百威啤酒就賣得非常成功。

Beer makers want to appeal to Chinese palettes.

啤酒商都希望可以吸引到中國的市場。

Remember that fermented lime beer, from that Hong Kong brewery?

還記得那個由香港啤酒公司釀造的發酵檸檬口味的啤酒嗎？

Well, there's also pineapple flavored beer, and some brewers say their beers are made with wheat and clean water to give off a healthy impression.

還有鳳梨口味的啤酒，有的釀酒商說他們的啤酒是用小麥和乾淨的水製成的，給人一種健康的印象。

So I didn't have to drink these beers while reporting this story, but I insisted on it.

所以我在報導的時候就不用喝這些啤酒，但我偏要喝。

You know, for the sake of journalistic due diligence.

你知道嘛，為了新聞需要盡職調查的。

These sales strategies have been used before in other parts of the world.

這些銷售策略曾經在世界其他地方使用過。

"We could've brewed our beer in a town you've never heard of."

我們可以在一個你從未聽過的小鎮裡釀造我們的啤酒。

「給他們啤酒喝到飽，哈哈哈！」

But beer makers say it's even more important to get them right in China because if they don't plan properly, there can be consequences.

可是啤酒製造商稱，在中國必須要採取適當的策略，如果沒有妥善的規劃，後果可能會不堪設想。

It's not proceeding with it's announced public offering...

有公司沒有繼續宣佈公開募股…

For example, in July, Annheuser-Beusch InBev, the producer of Budweiser...

舉例來說，在 7 月時安海斯-布希英博集團，百威啤酒的生產商…

中國的銷量對他們說是件大事。

...dropped its plan for what would've been the year's biggest IPO.

...百威放棄了本年度最大規模上市計劃。

The company says it flopped because of prevailing market conditions.

該公司表示之所以失敗，是因為現有的市場條件。

Investors worried that the strategy would not make enough money in Asia.

投資者擔心這個策略難以在亞洲賺取足夠的資金。

The intense competition between Chinese and international beer makers might scare boardrooms and investors across the world, but for Chinese drinkers, that only means one thing, a greater diversity of beers.

中國和國際啤酒商間的激烈競爭可能會嚇到全球的董事和投資者。但對於中國飲酒者來說，這只意味著他們伯有更多樣化的啤酒可以選擇。

So consumers better hope that companies keep up the fight.

所以，消費者更希望這些公司可以繼續努力。