How Service, Heritage, and Digital Transformation Are Shaping Guangdong’s Alcohol Industry

On June 25, 2026 the fifth session of the Guangdong Alcohol Industry Association’s sixth meeting and the election of the sixth board were held in Guangzhou, where Wen Sicon was elected president with a majority vote, succeeding Peng Hong.

The association’s work report showed that in 2025 Guangdong’s alcohol sales revenue reached about CNY 521 billion, a year‑on‑year decline of 8.11%. High‑price products (over CNY 600) fell 13.6% to CNY 108 billion, domestic baijiu dropped 8.05% to CNY 274 billion, imported spirits fell 34.54% to CNY 36 billion, and imported and domestic wine fell 26.66% to CNY 11 billion. The report summed up the industry’s condition in four Chinese characters: high inventory, price inversion, and weak consumption, indicating that the whole supply chain is under pressure.

Despite the pressure, the report identified positive signals: health‑wine (lu jiu) consumption is rising, low‑alcohol drinks are reviving, craft beer is growing against the trend, and instant retail with “minute‑level delivery” is expanding from first‑tier cities to second‑ and third‑tier cities in the Pearl River Delta. Consumer demand is shifting from “drinking to show off” to “drinking for oneself.”

Former president Peng Hong outlined a three‑level service principle—do not do what members can do themselves, help members do what they want, and fully support what members cannot do—augmented by three feelings of honor, empowerment, and information. This philosophy materialised in three fixed monthly activities (member day on the 9th, president‑visit day on the 19th, expert face‑to‑face on the 29th), creating a unique service brand. Under this model the association visited more than 1,500 member enterprises, held over 140 themed events, and engaged more than 5,000 participants, claiming to be the best alcohol‑industry association in China.

Wen Sicon, inheriting Peng’s mindset, presented four strategic directions: consolidating service roots, fostering collaborative development, assuming social responsibility, and building a Guangdong‑wine cultural inheritance system. He emphasised the emerging impact of AI and new technologies on the traditional consumption industry and the need to link Guangdong’s cultural heritage with modern consumption logic.

The report stresses that market development is shifting from “meeting demand” to “creating demand.” Traditional tactics—channel expansion, heavy advertising, inventory pressure—are no longer sufficient. Brands now need to transform product distribution into direct consumer reach, make every marketing spend traceable, turn opaque channel data into transparent analytics, and connect the entire product‑to‑consumer journey via digital identifiers.

Several enterprises have begun implementing a “one‑code‑one‑product” digital marketing system, turning each bottle into a digital touchpoint that links production, channel, and consumer ends, creating a full‑chain digital loop. This not only upgrades marketing tools but reconstructs the entire commercial logic, enabling brands to truly see their consumers and eliminate data silos.

MiDuo, a marketing‑digitalisation service provider, has been helping Guangdong alcohol firms adopt such technologies through a labeling platform, five‑code integration, instant retail, DTC, anti‑counterfeit, traceability, and other solutions. Although still early, these efforts demonstrate that digitalisation is no longer optional but a survival requirement in a competitive, inventory‑heavy market.

In conclusion, the association’s leadership change marks a new cycle where digital infrastructure—covering product, channel, scenario, and user data—will be the core engine for revitalising Guangdong’s alcohol industry, positioning it at the starting line of a systemic transformation.