As the Paris Olympics are in full swing, French wine sales are skyrocketing in China.
French imported wines at Metro, one of China’s top 10 supermarkets, surged as the Olympics approached, as reported by local media. Sales of four imported French wines—Champagne Mallol-Gantois Reserve Grand Cru, Rothberg Bordeaux White, M. Chapoutier Cotes du Rhone, and Chateau De Costis Bordeaux—have increased by over 120% month-on-month, according to Metro.
Metro, the German supermarket brand, opened its first store in China in Shanghai in 1996. In 2020, Wumei Technology Group acquired 80% of Metro China’s shares. In 2023, Wumart and Metro’s combined sales revenue was RMB 56.562 billion, with 1,122 stores. Many of Metro’s wines are directly sourced by the company, and industry insiders reveal that Metro’s annual wine sales in 2023 were about RMB 500 million, with RMB 300 million coming from imported wines.
In addition to wine, French lamb chop at Metro has seen sales increase more than sevenfold since the Olympics started on July 24. In addition, sales of summer cooling products have also risen as most chose to stay home to watch the games. According to Metro, its ice cream sales have increased by more than 5% year-on-year since July.
However, the actual Olympic games is more of a sober event as it prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages to the public at sports events. As a result, spectators cannot drink alcohol in the stands, and alcoholic beverages are only available in certain licensed sites.
Despite the Olympics’ strict alcohol ban at the venues, businesses have leveraged the event to promote wine sales in China. Their strategies typically focus on three themes: the historical connection between the Olympics and wine, suggesting wine as a drink while watching the Olympics, and launching Olympics-themed commemorative wines.
Despite these promotional efforts, a few wine merchants interviewed by Vino Joy News said the promotion so far has been lukewarm. Yolanda Yuan, founder of China’s leading sweet wine online store “Miss Yuan’s Sweet Wine Shop,” noted that although her Taobao platform recently held a significant Olympic-themed promotion, the results were limited, including for summer-friendly dry whites, sweet wines, and sparkling wines.
Wang Hongyi, a Chongqing agent for the Chilean wine brand Wise Monkey, reported that he has not seen an increase in wine sales driven by the Olympics in the southwestern city. “Logically, summer should be a good time to sell some dry whites, but the market atmosphere for dry whites in Chongqing is not mature enough. People still prefer beer in the summer, and I am currently working on cultivating my customers’ interest in dry whites,” Wang told Vino Joy News.
A brand manager from the online alcohol retailer Jiuxian.com also stated that they have not felt the Olympics boosting alcohol sales. The company has been busy with anniversary celebrations and has not conducted any Olympics-related promotions.