ZHEJIANGOUTLOOK
2
Vintage
Maotai
fetches 1.3
million yuan
By ZHANG PENG
TRANSLATED By DONG LILIN
AND LI MENGYING
Consumers set to lose from
Carrefour-Chef Kang price war
As Christmas contract negotiations
loom, supplier-retailer battles
threaten to put a strain on the market
By YAN WEIJIE
TRANSLATED By DONG LILIN AND LI MENGYING
ZHEJIANG WEEKLY
ZHEJIANG WEEKLY
It took 75 seconds for a vintage bottle
of Maotai, China’s best-known liquor, to
sell for a record 1.3 million yuan on Dec
14 aer the 52-year-old beverage went
under the hammer for an upset price of
250,000 yuan ($37, 550).
e female purchaser, who set a new
record in terms of domestic Maotai
auctions at the Xi Ling Yin She Autumn
Auction in Hangzhou, ended up paying
1.46 million yuan when taxes and commissions were factored in.
“The buyer
le no personal
information,
so her identity
remains something of a mystery,” said Feng
Chong,
who
heads up the
wine department at Xi Ling
Yin She Auction
Co., Ltd.
The bottle,
and its two ageyellowed labels,
had a production date of
Feb 15, 1958.
Feng said the fact that it was produced
in Guizhou province during China’s
Great Leap Forward, a time of severe
food shortages in the region, made it
more precious.
“Each bottle requires 6 kg of sorghum and wheat, and these were in big
demand at the time,” he said, guessing
that fewer than 20 such bottles remain
in existence.
e auction also saw several bottles
of Maotai produced in the 1980s sell for
over 10 times their starting prices.
Maotai has its own peculiar history
and the prices of its vintage bottles vary
according to where in this jigsaw they
fit. Items that pre-date the downsizing
in 1986 of each bottle’s volume from
540ml to 500ml are usually worth
more.
“I suggest collectors go for the pre1986 bottles as they’re much more
valuable,” said Feng. “e appreciation
potential of Maotai produced aer 1992
has been quite slow, as that was the year
in which it started getting volume produced by machine.”
In order to prevent evaporation, the
liquor should be kept in a cool place,
sealed with wax, wrapped in plastic or
Clingfilm and le in a standing position, he said.
Other vintage liquors such as Fenjiu
and Yanghe Daqu were popular at the
auction, but Wuliangye has the highest appreciation potential, according
to Feng.
Xi Ling Yin She found buyers for all
of its stock at its first liquor auction, as
Zhejiang residents rush to spend their
newfound wealth on luxury goods
that can be used as presents or investments.
“Whether you look at the turnover
rate or the price, it’s fairly obvious
that famous liquor is more popular in
Zhejiang than in other provinces,” said
Feng.
arrefour shoppers hunting for products by Chef
Kang Foods are finding themselves out of luck
due to a bust-up over pricing that has seen the
Chinese food manufacturer stop supplying the
French hypermarket chain’s Chinese outlets.
e retailer-supplier conflict follows in the wake of another recent falling out between US food giant Kra Foods and
Lianhua supermarket.
Chef Kang issued a statement on Dec 15 blaming Carrefour for demanding too much revenue from its product
sales. Carrefour hit back by saying it was unwilling to
accept the supplier’s recent price adjustments, which saw
Chef Kang raise its classic bag series of instant noodles by
10 percent to 2.2 yuan a bag from Nov 1.
All of Chef Kang’s client supermarkets in China adjusted
their prices accordingly except for Carrefour, the supplier
claimed, leading to out-of-stock signs cropping up in most
of Carrefour’s mainland stores.
C
“We’ve just received a truck of instant noodles from our
branches in other areas, which was fortunate because we
had run out,” said one member of staff from Carrefour’s
Hangzhou Yongjin Branch. He declined to give his name.
An official from Hangzhou Dingyi International Food Co,
which markets Chef Kang’s instant foods in East China, said
there were “supply problems” involving Carrefour, but that
these were not affecting the food-maker’s relationships with
other supermarkets.
Carrefour is loath to pass on Chef Kang’s price adjustments to the consumer, but it is “trying its best to reach an
agreement and patch up the supply chain”, said the media
manager of Carrefour in East China. He gave his surname
as Li.
Qi Yi, an associate professor of management at Zhejiang
University, said Christmas is traditionally a time of “intensive conflict” for retailers and suppliers as this is the period
for them to sign new contracts.
However, pundits say one of the sides needs to bend in
order to avoid destabilizing the market.
“If Carrefour does not accept Chef Kang’s demands,
there will be chaos in the market, and this is something
that Chef Kang will not be willing to face,” said the director
of a large-scale retail business in the region. He declined to
give his name.
“Chef Kang is testing the water by cutting its supplies to
Carrefour,” Qi said. “ey will find a way to compromise
eventually. e key is determining who is more powerful.”
Haining fur sales bucking global trend
By XUE JIANGUO
TRANSLATED By ZHOU WEINA
ZHEJIANG WEEKLY
Haining’s “Leather City” has
bucked the global trend by seeing
sales of its leather and fur coats spike
30 percent this year, while the rest of
the industry recorded a 40 percent
drop under the effect of the world
credit crunch.
“According to the China Leather
Association, Chinese leather consumption patterns are in the ascendant,” said Ren Youfa, CEO of Haining China Leather City Co, Ltd.
“ey reported a 30-percent sales
increase in Haining last year, and
envisage this growth rate continuing at the same pace in the coming
years.”
As a county-level city in Jiaxing,
Haining is famous for its leather and
fur coats. Thousands swarm to the
city each year to pick up a bargain
HUANG JIAJIAN / ZHEJIANG WEEKLY
among its elegant but inexpensive Haining is famous for its leather and fur coats.
lines of colorful coats, shawls, hats,
scarves and bags.
their products. ey have already embarked on exchanges
One of the ways the city in Zhejiang province has man- and collaborative projects with the French Fashion Design
aged to stay ahead of the game is by maintaining its cost- Association, efforts that are expected to bear fruit in the
cutting prices despite a steady rise in incomes in the region, near future.
making it a popular choice among the public.
According to Ren, local leather sales are tipped to mainPaying special attention to design has given Haining tain their robust growth given their enduring appeal and the
another edge, for example by inviting experienced leather fact that some 300 million Chinese now have the purchasing
and fur crasmen to give classes to its designers.
power to splurge on fur.
It has also consistently developed its market over the last
Moreover, men’s fur coats are fast becoming trendy in
16 years and launched a 62,000-square-meter “fur square” modern China, whereas before they were viewed more as a
on Nov 13 featuring 266 fur coat stores. is brings the utilitarian defense against the frozen climes of North China
fashion zone’s total trading area to 770,000 sq m — 10 times during its long winter.
larger what it was six years ago.
Many companies have cottoned onto this huge potential
Haining merchants are also busy forming a strategic market and are now starting to make fur coats exclusively
cooperation partnership with the China Central Academy for men, with mid-market prices ranging from 3,000 yuan
of Fine Arts and the China Academy of Arts to improve to 5,000 yuan.
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