Wine Australia bullish on screwcaps in China

Wine Australia’s marketing manager believes that the acceptance of screwcaps is increasing in China, particularly at lower price points, helped by the growing number of imports of Australian wine into the country.

Despite rising recognition of screwcap among Chinese consumers, natural cork is still the preferred wine closure method in the country, based on a report by Wine Intelligence. 

Among the respondents asked by the research company in China, 61% of them prefer buying wines with natural cork, while 32% rejected screwcap, making it the most rejected closure of all kinds across all markets, even higher than synthetic corks, according to the report. 

However, Stuart Barclay, general marketing manager of Wine Australia, believes that a growing number of consumers in China are aware of the benefits of screwcap especially since Australian wines, mostly sealed under screwcap, have become the second most-imported wine category in the country, after France. China has already become Australia’s most valuable export market, thanks to the two countries’ Free Trade Agreement.

During the year ended on September 2017, Australia exported AU$739 million worth of wines to mainland China, representing a 56% increase over last year. Asked about Australia’s bulk wine exports to China, the executive said 94% of the value of exports to China consists of bottled wines, “so bulk wine is a very small share of our exports”. Even with anticipated reduced tariff to 4% next year, the sector is expected to remain small, he added.

“Chinese consumers are being educated on the benefits of a screwcap, which have been adopted to ensure Australian wines are the very best quality wines available in the China market,” he said.

“Australian wineries are proud of their innovation in terms of delivering wines to China that reflect the very best of Australia, appeal to the Chinese palate and are perfect for every occasion from drinking a glass of wine at night to a very special gift.”

“This is partly driven by the robust nature of Wine Australia’s regulatory and compliance power ensuring that all wines exported from Australia are 100% compliant to the labelling of the wine. Wine Australia is committed to ensure that we use our government authority to ensure that the Chinese consumers have faith in our premium Australian wines, where the wines are from and what is in the bottle,” he added.

Earlier this year, the Australian federal government approved a AU$50 million package to further bolster wine exports and tourism, and granted Wine Australia the authority to allocate the money.

China, Australia’s biggest wine export market by value, has already received early investments, Barclay revealed. Looking ahead, the trade organisation is expecting to pump more resources in the Vinexpo Hong Kong in May next year, where Australia has been named country of honour. Next year, it will also roll out its annual China Roadshow in June.