Thank you. Ladies and gentleman, it is my great, great honor to be here. My name is Patrick. I'm the founder of La Marche and my company provides wines & spirits education programs. We have over 150,000 online members and more than 15,000 students have attended our classes all over Taiwan. I have over 4,500 teaching hours in total and I have also taught classes in Beijing and Chongqing. I am proud to share with you that La Marche is one the most important initiators in wine education and wine promotion in Taiwan.
Since I am a wine instructor and have sufficient experience in wine, I have many opportunities to gain insights into the Taiwan wine market. Many of my students are from the wine industry such as suppliers, retailers, and restaurants, and I also actively follow the local and global wine market news. I hope my insights and learnings throughout my professional career can contribute to So I feel that I have something to share with you about the Taiwan wine market.
Taiwan is a very competitive but also high-potential wine market. Taiwan had no history of producing grape based wines, therefore the consumption history of such wines is not long and dates only back to the late 1970’s. A burgeoning trend to celebrate wine culture started in the 1980s. The initial interests were mainly on trophy wines such as Ch. Lafite and Ch. Margaux, and very little on lesser known labels or mass market brands. Although wine was treated as status symbols, it still opened the eyes and introduced the consumers to wine. There were a few small, independent wine shops and their selections were dictated by the consumer preferences.
From late 1990s to early 2000s, there was an increase of wine publications such as books, magazines and newspaper columns. This also marked the first publication in in Chinese. Wine became a fashion icon in the mass media and trendy amongst the young generation, and we saw that wines were being served in wedding banquets instead of the traditional Liquor. The wine trade began to expand and more stores opened, and the media began to influence the wine selections.
In the 2000s, internet evolved into the mainstream mass communication technology, and information sharing became much easier and faster. Wine publications continued to grow at a rapid pace and these led to the broadening interest amongst consumers. They began to diversify and formed niche groups, and leveraged their purchasing power to negotiate pricing or influence selections of the wine trade. They also demanded more professional service and wine knowledge from the staff. While the trade was still dominated by small, independent shops, chain-retailers were becoming aware of this trend. They began to sell wines and became key players of wine sales in the next decade.
About 5 years ago, super markets began to accelerate their wine sales, led by the two big chain-retailers, Carrefour and RT-Mart. They imported and sold both quantity and quality wines. Costco joined the competition shortly after, and upped the ante with their private label "Kirkland Signature" wines. The selections of these chain-retailers, they were much more limited and consumers had little influence on them. These developments changed the Taiwan wine market forever and had detrimental effects on small retailers. However, this presented interesting opportunities for new types of suppliers with more emphasis on service, or for smaller suppliers to merge to increase their bargaining power.
In the current Taiwan wine market, wine education and wine clubs are becoming popular. Wine is still considered a fashion icon and is embraced by the young generation. Wine tasting, wine dinner and wine learning are considered part of the luxury lifestyle. At the same time, wine industry is being pushed by the well informed consumers demanding better services. Many industry professionals are improving their knowledge and ability by taking wine courses such as WSET Certifications. These wine certificate programs are also being adopted into the university curriculum. Students are being certified in school and they are important part of the growing circle of the wine market.
According to the IWSR data, the average wine consumption in Taiwan is just under one bottle per person per year, compare to Japan’s annual average of 2-3 bottles per person. This suggests that the Taiwan market has the growth potential of two to three times in the next decade. Considering the Taiwan wine import growth in the last 3 years was flat, I believe this signals that the market needs a new driving force in order to expand and this should be concentrated on the mass market. In order to reach new audience, how the wine culture is presented in mass media is critical, both in commercial and in regular press. The key concept should be to create an even closer tie between wine and life styles by using notions such as food and wine pairings and wine etiquette. And when the consumers purchase a wine, they are not buying just a bottle but the enjoyment of daily life. In addition, suppliers should know that on premise accounts such as restaurants and bars are also important venues to show the consumers how to enjoy a glass of wine.