Babich sells priciest container of wine to China

June 9, 2008

After years of laying the groundwork, Babich Wines is now enjoying exceptional growth in China, with its Guangzhou distributor recently ordering the most expensive container of wine it has ever sold anywhere in the world.

The 12,000 bottles of wines in that container are destined for very high class retail outlets and restaurants, says David Babich, General Manager of the company that is one of a handful that have been pioneering New Zealand wine sales in China.

He says over the last five years Babich has sent the odd container of wine to China, in the last six months it has sent four containers and from a low base is now starting to get real traction.

Last November Babich was one of 18 New Zealand companies to participate on the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) pavilion at Food & Hotel China; it was, says Mr Babich, a platform to showcase their products to China’s most influential restaurant, hotel, catering and food service audience.

“A fair like Food & Hotel China is a building block towards improving our position in the market. That fact that it is strongly supported by NZTE is very important.”
New Zealand’s high profile attendance at the fair was organised by NZTE under the Food & Beverage Taskforce. China is a priority market for the Taskforce, whose objective is to help leading food and beverage firms expand their presence internationally.

“China is New Zealand’s food and beverage industry’s fifth largest market and one that is growing strongly,” says Taskforce Director Sam Lewis. “There’s a huge amount of development in the Shanghai and Beijing food service sector in particular, with investment in premium five star hotels presenting a lot of top-end opportunities.

“Our food and beverage firms have much to offer China, particularly in terms of quality and food safety and integrity, increasingly important issues at the premium end of the market which New Zealand is targeting.”

Mr Lewis says in a large and dynamic marketplace like China, a collected and cooperative approach is vital so New Zealand has the critical mass to make an impact.

NZTE is ramping up its activity and support for food and beverage firms in China this year following the signing of the Free Trade Agreement. It will be organising a national pavilion at this year’s Food & Hotel China in December and will be linking this into the recently announced New Zealand Concept Centre in Shanghai.

David Babich says they intend to return to this year’s Food & Hotel China given the enormous potential China has, not just for Babich, but the New Zealand wine industry generally.

“China is the sixth biggest wine producing nation in the world and they consume most of their product internally. A wealthy middle class is looking to the west to see what they are drinking and as a result wine consumption is enjoying very steep growth.

“By 2018 we want China to be one of our top four markets in the world, on a par with Australia, America and England.”

For more information please contact

David Babich, General Manager, Babich Wines, ph +64 9 8337859, email david@babichwines.co.nz, www.babichwines.co.nz

Sam Lewis, Director, NZTE Food & Beverage Taskforce, phone 09 354 9146, email sam.lewis@nzte.govt.nz

Distributed by Carolyne Jurriaans, Communications Consultant
Phone: 09 354 9150, Mobile: 027 552 4195, carolyne.jurriaans@nzte.govt.nz