Among Tier 1 and 2 cities, Martell Chinese New Year sales rose 13%, and were up 5% in the year to date. With anti-extravagance, however, the mix has changed, with XO-and-above suffering and improving trends for new offerings Martell Noblige and Distinction.
The picture is also shifting when it comes to sales channels. The old days of KTV lounges are numbered – for Pernod’s whole business in China, they account for 15% of trade now, down from 20% a year ago, while bars and the off-trade are “growing nicely”, says Coppéré, representing 70% of trade.
But it would be misleading to describe China as a market entirely transformed by recent events. “It’s still consumed very much in the on-trade and outside the home,” says Blois. “People don’t consume too much at home, more in bars, private lounges and clubs.”
For the most part, China has a limited culture of at-home consumption and entertainment, partly because the middle and upper middle classes typically live in apartments that are much smaller than their equivalents in Europe or the US. “Home is private and for the family,” says Blois. “That’s going to be changing though. People will buy a bottle and drink it at home with their friends – it’s on the edge of happening.”
Off-trade upsurge
For the time being, the upsurge in off-trade sales is mainly explained by the phenomenon of people buying cognac in a shop, then bringing it to the restaurant to share over a meal with friends, says Coppéré.
Geographically, too, little has changed for cognac. Its stronghold remains the south and Guangdong province in particular, while the north and Beijing, beyond small pockets of growth, remain more focused on white spirits – baijiu and, to a lesser extent, vodka.
Blois reckons it’s “very hard to change the habits” of the provinces beyond these areas, where local spirits continue to dominate. “We are not going to revolutionise the way China drinks,” she concludes.
Deau has recently opened an office in Zhuhai, on the border with Macau, reflecting the company’s conviction that China, however it may have changed, will remain a core cognac market.
“We really believe in it,” says Hidier. “It’s a cognac market for generations, so it’s not going to stop just because for two years sales have dropped. We need some distance from what has happened to really understand what the Chinese market for cognac is.”
Perhaps even more significant in the longer term are the shifting consumer attitudes in China today. “I think people are getting more health conscious and more open to other products,” says Blois. “They are thinking: ‘Why should I get drunk every time I drink cognac?’ And people want to know the story behind the brand. Before, it was just the brand; now it’s the lifestyle behind the brand.”
New environment
In this new environment, having Cyril Camus based in Shanghai for much of the year – and speaking fluent Mandarin – is a particular boon for the company. “It humanises our brand and allows us to get closer to the trade,” says Blois.
These evolving trends could be good news for smaller players in a market still dominated by the big four houses of Hennessy, Martell, Rémy and, to a lesser extent, Courvoisier.
Hidier is grateful for the work the big brands do in terms of opening up markets, but believes there is a growing opportunity for “alternative” marques such as Deau to carve out a niche for themselves.
That said, the kind of stranglehold on the market currently grasped by the big houses can lead all too easily to complacency and inertia.
While there are signs of increased product innovation in cognac, it’s as nothing compared to the dynamism and creativity displayed by certain rival spirits categories.
“I think it’s very difficult to make a revolution in the world of cognac,” says Hidier. “When you look at the rum category and the whisky category, we have a lot to think about to renew ourselves.” For the moment, however, the cognaçais are simply grateful that the Chinese market has stabilised after a decidedly difficult two-and-a-half years.
