File photo/Zheng Derui (NBD)

"Moutai must always stay young and embrace young people in order to enhance the vitality of the company."

On September 16, Kweichow Moutai ("Moutai") took the third step in "embracing young people" by collaborating with Dove to launch the new product "Moutai Liquor-filled Chocolate," which unsurprisingly sold out within seconds.

In just 476 days, starting from May 29th, 2022, when Moutai officially launched its non-alcoholic crossover product "Moutai Ice Cream," to September 4th, 2023, when it introduced the "Liquor Latte," and finally on September 16th, 2023, when Moutai released the "Liquor-filled Chocolate," the "Moutai Trio" has been successively introduced. Moutai has extended its reach into more fields and allowed more consumers to taste Moutai for the first time in their lives.

While cross-border collaborations are exciting, the challenge lies in how to prolong the "freshness" and make young people fall in love with the "sauce fragrance." 

Currently, the focus is on the effectiveness of these three steps taken by Moutai.

File photo/Shu Dongni (NBD)

"The liquor-filled chocolate released this time is a cultural and tourism product that combines wine culture and chocolate culture. Liquor has always been the core business of Moutai," said Ding Xiongjun, Chairman of Moutai. "Moutai International Hotel, as an important component of Moutai Group's wine, culture, tourism, and health industry, focuses on the collision and blending of 'wine + food' and the taste experience... It has completed the ecological layout of the product matrix of 'drinking, eating, tasting, drinking, and bringing,' which includes drinking Moutai liquor, eating Moutai banquet, tasting Moutai ice cream, drinking Sauce Fragrance Latte, and bringing liquor-filled chocolate."

At around 3:40 p.m. on September 16, Moutai Liquor-filled Chocolate from Dove Tmall flagship store, Moutai Ice Cream Tmall flagship store, Tmall Supermarket, and other e-commerce platforms were all sold out. Similar to the previously popular Liquor Latte, Moutai Liquor-filled Chocolate quickly became a hot topic on various social media platforms, securing the top spot in trending searches.

Since May last year, Moutai has chosen to collaborate with well-known and influential brands such as Mengniu, Luckin, and Dove, all of which are trusted by young people in their respective fields. These brands have also gained more exposure through these partnerships.

File hoto/Xu Shuai (NBD)

Mengniu expressed to National Business Daily (NBD) that they have put their full effort into the collaboration with Moutai, establishing an independent project team to blend Moutai liquor with fresh milk. In the future, both parties will fully leverage their complementary advantages to expand their cooperation in broader fields and a wider range.

Since its initial launch last year, Moutai Ice Cream has sold nearly tens of millions of cups. On the first day of the Liquor release, single-item sales exceeded 5.42 million cups, with sales exceeding 100 million yuan. Most stores were sold out within the fourth day of its release. The liquor-filled chocolate, which collaborated with Dove, has already generated a lot of buzz even before its official launch.

Through cross-industry collaborations, Moutai not only adds fun and innovation to its products but also enhances the youthfulness and fashionability of its brand.

Regarding this, Ding Xiongjun expressed at the liquor-filled chocolate launch event, "Standing at the forefront of the new era and facing new consumer trends, as a traditional Chinese brand enterprise, Moutai must always stay young and enhance its vitality. This inevitably requires embracing young people, embracing the younger generation of the 'Z' generation. It also requires adhering to internationalization and promoting Chinese brands and Chinese culture to better go global. From the 'out-of-the-box' Moutai Ice Cream to the 'trending' Sauce-flavored Latte, and now the 'official announcement' of the liquor-filled chocolate, Moutai is bravely trying on new shoes, taking new paths, and exploring new avenues."