Young Chinese are driving a shift from the traditional white spirit to fruity, lower-alcohol beverages, in a sign of as evolving lifestyles
Selecting which crops to grow each season can be a make-or-break decision for farmers. And in the ancient Chinese town of Baisha, famous for its liquor production, more and more are sowing seeds of change in a bid to capitalise on the evolving tastes of consumers.
Located in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing and home to the distillery of Chinese baijiu distilled-liquor brand Jiang Xiao Bai, the town is seeing its farmland increasingly being used to grow green plums instead of sorghum grain.
Both are key ingredients in producing certain spirits, but unlike sorghum, which is primarily used in traditional fiery baijiu distillation, green plums are used to produce much lighter and fruitier wine.
“Innovative low-alcohol drinks mark a very clear market trend in China,” said Fan Li, PR director of Bottle Planet, which owns Jiang Xiao Bai. “We are embracing changes in the market.”
