In the past two years, bare-bottle liquor has emerged as a dark horse in the white liquor industry. According to statistics from the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, the compound annual growth rate of the bare-bottle liquor market in 2023 reached 14%, and it is expected that the market size will exceed 150 billion yuan in 2024.

It is worth noting that as bare-bottle liquor gradually attracts attention from both the industry and the public, its prices have also begun to change. Reporters have observed that established bare-bottle liquor companies, led by Niulanshan, continue to adhere to their original product prices, while many newly launched bare-bottle liquor companies and brands have positioned their new products at prices between 50 and 80 yuan. This has led to a transformation in the market structure and product positioning of bare-bottle liquor.

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"At present, the market for boxed white liquor priced around 100 yuan is gradually shrinking, and the emerging bare-bottle liquor is showing a trend of replacing this price range in the market," said Bai Jiu industry expert Cai Xuefei. As the use of liquor in business banquets gradually upgrades, boxed white liquor priced around 100 yuan can no longer meet the needs of business liquor consumption. At the same time, the 100-yuan price range is becoming the price range for consumers' daily liquor consumption, so we believe that bare-bottle liquor will have significant development potential and market in the 50-100 yuan price range in the future.

More products in different price segments have emerged in recent years, with bare-bottle liquor gradually occupying consumers' liquor tables through continuous upgrades. According to the "In-depth Report on the Bare-Bottle Liquor Industry" by Founder Securities, from 2013 to 2023, the sales of the bare-bottle liquor market increased from 35.2 billion yuan to 132.9 billion yuan, nearly tripling in 10 years, with growth momentum at the forefront of the category.

Looking back at the development process of bare-bottle liquor, from Lao Cunzhang, Niulanshan to Bo Fen, and now to the current era of mixed battles between famous liquors and new and old brands, the bare-bottle liquor market has been steadily developing, and the market continues to expand. In terms of price, for a long time, the price of bare-bottle liquor has been maintained at below 30 yuan, mainly represented by products such as Niulanshan and green bottle Xifeng.

During the last upcycle of white liquor, most liquor companies focused on high-end products as their main business goal, and bare-bottle liquor, as a consumer product for the masses, did not receive much attention from the industry. However, since 2020, the upcycle of white liquor has gradually ended, and many companies have begun to focus on the bare-bottle liquor market, including leading companies such as Langjiu and Luzhou Laojiao, which have successively launched new bare-bottle liquor products.

According to the "2023-2032 Bare-Bottle Liquor Development Trend Report," on the basis of the "staple liquor" priced at 20 yuan, new price ranges of 28-48 yuan for "offline gathering" and 50-80 yuan for "quality gathering + self-consumption" have emerged, and bare-bottle liquor priced below 100 yuan has formed a diversified consumption trend. At the same time, with the change of the main force of white liquor consumption, a younger consumer group has brought more imagination to the development of bare-bottle liquor, and personalization, fashion, and light luxury are gradually becoming new labels for bare-bottle liquor.

Reporters have noticed that in recent years, new bare-bottle liquor products launched by leading companies, such as Shunpin Lang and Guangliang, are priced at over 50 yuan, and some products have approached 100 yuan, while 100-yuan white liquor has been the price range for boxed white liquor for a long time. From the perspective of white liquor costs, the cost of the packaging box is relatively low, but most liquor companies still position 100-yuan white liquor in the field of bare-bottle liquor in their latest new products.

"From a marketing perspective, the difference between bare-bottle liquor and boxed liquor is that consumers will subconsciously believe that bare-bottle liquor at the same price is more cost-effective and of higher quality than boxed liquor," said Sun Wei, a strategic advisor at Tsinghua University."On the one hand, the last round of white liquor consumption upgrade led to a general increase in the overall price of boxed white liquor, raising the overall price of business banquet wines, which made the original low-priced boxed white liquor lose its consumption scenarios," said Cai Xuefei. In particular, boxed white liquor priced around 100 yuan can no longer meet the needs of business wines; on the other hand, there are also differences in consumers' daily consumption, therefore, in recent years, the market for light bottle wines has begun to see more price segments.

In addition, another development direction for light bottle wines is the ultimate cost performance ratio. This year, the light bottle wine produced by Pang Donglai and Baofeng Liquor Industry, and the 9.9 yuan light bottle wine of Aldi have attracted high attention in the industry. "It is not difficult to guess from the pricing that the profit margin of this type of white liquor is very low, mainly relying on volume sales," said Cai Xuefei. For manufacturers, while controlling costs and reducing profits, how to ensure the quality of the wine is a considerable challenge.

It is worth noting that at present, in addition to Niulanshan under Shunxin Agriculture, which once reached a market scale of tens of billions, other brands have not yet had light bottle wine brands and product lines with revenues exceeding tens of billions. Looking at the market distribution of light bottle wines, the light bottle wine market still has a strong regional characteristic, especially in the North China, Northeast and other northern regions, the consumer market for light bottle wines is strong, and local brands such as Xiaodao and Yidan Grain have strong brand appeal.

"Light bottle wine has been an important position for regional small and medium-sized enterprises for a long time. In recent years, many top companies have started to increase their investment in light bottle wine, and the competition pattern of white liquor has also transitioned from top-end high-end products to mid-end products. Currently, brands such as Langjiu, Fenjiu, Xifeng Wine, and Luzhou Laojiao are trying to create another billion-scale product matrix in the field of light bottle wine. In the future, light bottle wine will inevitably gradually approach light luxury and terminal product lines," said Ouyang Qianli, an expert in the liquor industry.

Channel products show diversification

In recent years, youth has become a topic that the white liquor industry has been discussing. Under this trend, the market for light bottle wines has given birth to young brands such as Jiang Xiaobai and Guangliang Liquor Industry.

The reporter noticed that in addition to the above-mentioned emerging brands, Niulanshan, Xiaodao, and Red Star, as old brands of light bottle wines, have been operating light bottle wines for many years, and have always taken cost performance as the main product strategy. In addition, top companies such as Langjiu, Luzhou Laojiao, and Fenjiu have started to increase their investment in the light bottle wine industry in recent years, launching products such as Shunpin Lang, Luzhou Laojiao Black Cap, and Bo Fen, trying to open up new markets with brand appeal. In 2024, Langjiu made new deployments around the fragrance strategy, adjusted the organizational structure, clarified the product sequence, and aimed directly at the "billion fragrance" in 2025. The addition of Gujing Gongjiu nostalgic edition and Jinshiyuan Gaogou standard also made the light bottle wine market more "famous wine".

Cai Xuefei pointed out that the above-mentioned companies and brands currently each have their own advantages, which makes the future development space and market of light bottle wine diversified. In the future, light bottle wines will have very large differences in aspects such as alcohol content and fragrance, to meet the needs of various consumers. From the product itself, light bottle wine, as a product for consumers to drink by themselves, has a broad prospect in meeting differentiated needs.

The mid-term report of the China Alcohol Industry Association shows that according to the feedback from dealers and retailers in the white liquor market, from January to June this year, the price band of 100 yuan and below ranked third on the market sales list, and white liquor below 100 yuan is the main position of light bottle wine.

"The market space for light bottle wine is large enough, and it is currently difficult to appear an overwhelming top brand and product, which makes more brands and products have local advantages in various regions," said Ouyang Qianli.The reporter noted that Zhao Xiaopu, the founder of Guangliang Liquor Industry, once stated that a core reason for the growth of Guangliang Liquor Industry is closely related to the fact that famous and excellent liquor companies cut off their OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) labels a few years ago. The rise of Guangliang Liquor Industry has filled the gap in the market for a lack of high-quality naked bottles of liquor. Guangliang Liquor Industry told the reporter that the company has established a "one county, one merchant" characteristic terminal system across the country, adapting to local conditions in different regions, and directly channeling down to consumer terminals such as tobacco and liquor stores and catering shops in second, third, and fourth-tier markets, greatly reducing channel costs.

"The difference in consumption scenarios between naked bottles of liquor and traditional high-end white liquor determines that their consumption methods are also different. Currently, high-end white liquor mainly relies on group purchase forms, while the channels for naked bottles of liquor are closer to daily fast-moving consumer goods, which determines that there is a very big difference between naked bottles of liquor and high-end white liquor in terms of channels," said Cai Xuefei. For example, the channel of Niulanshan relies on the regional large dealer system, while many emerging white liquor brands directly use fast-moving consumer goods channel merchants and even e-commerce as the main channels.

"At present, supermarket chains are a very important channel for naked bottles of liquor, which has led many channel merchants who originally operated soft drinks to start acting as agents for various naked bottles of liquor," a dealer in the South China region told the reporter. Looking at the current situation, there are many channels for naked bottles of liquor, some brands focus on catering channels, and some directly cooperate with supermarkets. In terms of channel forms, naked bottles of liquor are already no different from beer, and the demand in the future will also increase.

Cai Xuefei believes that at present, the upgrading trend of naked bottles of liquor is irresistible, especially against the background of the liquor industry's squeeze-type growth and the intensification of the competition situation in the existing stock. The scale expansion of naked bottles of liquor needs to rely on price increases to support, which not only requires a leapfrog upgrade in quality but also needs to continuously enhance value in the brand.