Once again, Moutai bumps up price of signature spirit
For the second time this year, China’s largest liquor maker, Kweichow Moutai, has hiked the price of its flagship product in a bid to bolster margins amid a broader baijiu slump.
The baijiu giant has increased Feitian Moutai’s retail price on its official e-commerce website by 100 RMB to 1,639 RMB per bottle starting 18 July, according to an exchange filing.
The distiller also hiked the ex-factory price, charged to wholesalers and distributors, by 100 RMB to 1,369 RMB per 53% vol 500ml bottle.
It’s the second time in the past few months that the company has upped both the ex-factor and retail price of the alcoholic drink – having previously done so in March. Prior to that, the price of the product had not lifted since 2023.
The company’s shares lifted as much as 4.2% on Monday, as the spirits maker moved to safeguard profitability – hinting at an uptick in investor confidence.
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Getting over the hangover?
It’s a much-needed moment of positivity for China’s baijiu sector, which has been in decline for more than a year.
Analysts estimate that the whole baijiu sector sales fell by nearly 15% last year, with the giant producers such as Kweichow Maotai, Wuliangye Yibin, Luzhou Laojiao, Yanghe, and Xinghuacun all taking big hits, as previously reported by the drinks business.
According to the ‘2025 Mid-term Research Report on China’s Liquor Market’ released by the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, in the first half of 2025, 58.1% of liquor companies reported increased channel inventory pressure, over half of distributors and retailers indicated an increase in the degree of price inversion, and more than 40% of retailers said they were facing cash flow pressures.
Looking back on a tough 2025
In the first three quarters of 2025, the total revenue of 20 A-share listed liquor companies amounted to Y317.79 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 5.90%; their combined net profit was Y122.571 billion, down 6.93%.
Last year, Moutai suffered its first annual drop in profits and revenue since it listed on the Shanghai stock market in 2001.
Net profit last year fell 4.5% to Y82.32 billion (US$12.07 billion) with revenue declining 1.2% to Y168.84 billion, both well below market expectations and short of the company’s own guidance.
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