Diageo raises toast with 15 signature products at CIIE

The world's largest international spirits producer Diageo attended the 3rd China International Import Expo by displaying 15 signature products of six brands to the Chinese consumers, showing the company's commitment to be more deeply rooted in the Chinese market.

In succession to its debut at CIIE two years ago, it is the second time that the London-headquartered company has attended the exhibition.

Diageo also reached an agreement with China's leading online retailer JD.com on Friday to promote responsible drinking and moderate consumption of alcohol in the Chinese market.

Diageo officially entered China in 2002. According to Mark Edwards, general manager of Diageo China, the penetration rate of spirits still remains low at about 2 to 3 percent. But that can also be translated into great room of growth in the Chinese market, said Edwards.

While the company's business was impaired from February to April in China due to the lockdown of cities and the suspended operation of bars and restaurants due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the company was more than happy to notice the higher resilience of international spirits, for people tend to consume more such products at home, according to Edwards.

Thanks to the Chinese government's efforts to prevent and control epidemic, Diageo started to see business recovery in July and the business is almost on par with last year's performance at present. The company is also discovering new distribution channels in China, including the tourism resorts in popular destinations such as Hainan province, as domestic traveling will continue to show more upward momentum given the country's dual circulation economic development model.

Meanwhile, Diageo has seen growth opportunities in all tier cities in China. While penetration rate of international spirits was very low in lower tier cities five years ago, the rate has increasing significantly in cities such as Xiamen and Quanzhou. E-commerce platforms in this case have played an important role to reach out the consumers, said Edwards.

"China is one of our high priority markets. We will continue to invest and launch new products here," he said.

Founded in 1997, the London-headquartered spirits producer covers a wide range of alcohol categories including scotch whisky, gin, vodka, liquor, rum and beer. Its net sales revenue hit 12.87 billion GBP ($16.93 billion) in 2019.