In China, the liquor industry has always been a profiteering industry.

According to 2016 statistics, the net profit margin of well-known Chinese liquor brands, such as Moutai, Wuliangye, Yanghe, etc., generally exceeded 30%, and Kweichow Moutai was as high as 52%.

What is this concept?

For example, the most profitable tobacco industry in the United States has a net profit margin of only about 30%, while the net profit margin of foreign alcohol brands is only about 20%, and companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft can only reach about 22% of the net profit margin.

It can be said that the windfall profits of the liquor industry, except for the tobacco industry, are basically comparable to other industries.

There is a reason why the liquor industry can be so profitable.

The first is the prevalence of Chinese wine culture.

In China, baijiu has not lacked a mass base since ancient times, and in the texts when I was a child, I learned Li Bai's "Hu'er will exchange for fine wine, and sell eternal sorrow with you", and baijiu has also become an indispensable element of Chinese-style gatherings.

Secondly, the production cost of liquor is low and it is easy to pay a premium.

This is critical.

In the liquor industry, there has always been a saying that three catties of grain and one catty of wine, and this catty of wine refers to 65 degrees of puree wine.

After blending, a pound of liquor of about 50 degrees only needs about two and a half catties of grain.

What is this concept?

For example, in 92, the price of a bottle of Wuliangye was about 45 yuan, while Moutai was as high as 90 yuan.

So how much does their food cost?

In 92, the price of 100 catties of rice was about 25 yuan, that is, the price of 3 catties of rice was 0.75 yuan, which was the cost of grain for a catty of liquor.

Even if you add labor, equipment depreciation, and other expenses, it will generally not exceed three to five yuan.

This premium is simply going to be overturned.

Moreover, liquor is shelf-stable, and the more it is stored, the more fragrant it is, and the longer it is stored, the easier it is to pay a premium.

Finally, the brand premium factor is high.

For example, for the same cost, a bottle of Xiangshui Daqu can't be sold for a few yuan, while Wuliangye can be sold for forty or fifty yuan.

That's where brands come in.

In fact, in the mid-to-late nineties, many local liquor brands that were originally unknown became famous all over the country through advertising, such as the CCTV Biaowang Confucius Banquet in 1995, Qinchi in 96 and 97, and then Yanghe, Jiannanchun, etc., which were later advertised.

This is exactly why Wu Xiaozheng attaches so much importance to the winery.

For most domestic drinkers, they can't accurately tell the difference in quality between sake and liquor, and in such a situation, it is generally the most famous and expensive to drink, and the proportion of blind obedience is very high.

In such a situation, Wu Xiaozheng can promote his own liquor brand through advertising.

And the most critical factor is the original puree wine of Xiangshui County Distillery.

In later generations, the reason why so many people miss Xiangshui Daqu in the early years is that Xiangshui Daqu is a real pure grain wine, which is not spicy, not headed, and has no stamina, and the only drawback is that the taste is not good.

The reason for the poor taste is not that its original puree wine is not good, but that its blending technology is not up to par.

When it comes to puree liquor and blending technology, we have to talk about the development history of the liquor industry in New China.

Before the sixties, all baijiu in China was basically pure grain liquor, which was made by fermenting koji and then distilling it.

The distilled grain liquor is the original puree liquor before it has been blended and diluted.

After the sixties, China's food supply was tight.

In order to save the grain used for brewing, many wineries add flavoring substances to edible alcohol to simulate the taste of traditional puree wine.

After entering the 80s, the original puree liquor disappeared for a time, and the technology of blending liquor became more and more mature.

These blended liquors are made by blending edible alcohol with other chemicals, also known as new liquor.

It was not until after 2000 that the original puree liquor was recognized by the majority of wine owners for the second time, and the reason for the recognition was that blended liquor was popular, and there were once serious incidents of large-scale liquor poisoning caused by some distilleries using industrial alcohol to blend.

After extensive publicity by the media, the majority of wine drinkers realized that everyone had been drinking blended wine with no nutrition.

Only then do you know that puree wine is really good wine.

Compared with the new process liquor, it has a strong aroma, sweet and delicious taste, mellow taste, and contains amino acids, oligosaccharides, organic acids and a variety of vitamins, and its nutritional characteristics are remarkable.

And it doesn't go up after drinking, and it is less irritating to the body.

This is also the reason why many people in later generations miss Xiangshui Daqu, because since the 80s, Xiangshui Daqu has been a real grain wine brewed.

But puree wine does not represent really good wine.

The real good wine is the brand wine after the original puree wine has been specially blended and adjusted to its taste and degree, which is what Wu Xiaozheng is planning to do now.

And the reason why Wu Xiaozheng is still unwilling to tell Yang Guiping directly is because he still has to find someone.

This is a real alcoholic and a real master of puree wine mixology.

It was only in this era of new baijiu that the master bartender was still very unwilling, and it was not until after 2002 that his fortunes began to change and he became a top master in the field of blending puree liquor.

In his previous life, Wu Xiaozheng occasionally met and knew this master, so he heard about his miserable situation in the nineties.

Now Wu Xiaozheng's key task is to find out this future top training master and let him help Chef Wu create a top liquor brand.

Hehe, the distillery almost deducted the aged puree wine as a salary, and it was really unknown in Baoshan.

Then let Chef Wu pick up this treasure!

Moreover, Wu Xiaozheng has to pick it up openly and honestly as a savior, because only he has the ability to turn waste into treasure.

This is the most critical factor in creating value.

Speaking of which, it seems that Wu Xiaozheng is taking advantage of state-owned enterprises, but Wu Xiaozheng can take advantage of this advantage.

This is fundamentally different from taking advantage of the country by greeting the old man.

"Brother Yang, you must say hello to the winery, before I go to see it, you must not touch these puree wines, otherwise no one will be able to save the winery!"

Wu Xiaozheng advised again.

In any case, regardless of whether the future top training master can be unearthed as soon as possible, these puree wine Wu Xiao is about to be decided.

After all, the more the puree wine is stored, the more fragrant it is, and the more it is saved, the more valuable it is, maybe Chef Wu will be able to sell it at a high price for five years, ten years, or even twenty years in the future.

This is definitely another top pillar industry of Chef Wu.

After receiving Yang Guiping's affirmative answer, Wu Xiaozheng raised another question.

"Brother Yang, over there in the vegetable market, do you know about Tian Scar?"