- Tmall’s 9.9 Global Wine and Spirits Festival launches 9 September 2018
- Globalisation a key theme of the 2018 Festival with Tmall customers being able to purchase over 100,000 international beverage brands
- Chinese social media influencers, the Chufei Churan twins, will showcase Australian wines to the younger generation Chinese consumers
Alibaba Group is partnering with Wine Australia to drive sales of Australian wine at the third annual 9.9 Global Wine and Spirits Festival (9.9天貓全球酒水節) on 9 September 2018.
The online festival brings more than 100,000 international wine and spirit brands to 576 million Chinese online consumers through business-to-consumer marketplace Tmall.com.
A highlight of this year’s festival is an enhanced Wine Australia flagship store showcasing an increased range of popular Australian wine brands. It offers consumers significantly more choice, including links to the Australian wines available through the Tmall stores of Treasury Wine Estates, Casella Family Brands, Pernod Ricard Winemakers and ASC Fine Wines Limited.
Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Hon David Littleproud MP said the Australian Government is backing this strategic partnership through the $50 million Export and Regional Wine Support Package.
“Online retail has revolutionised the way that people shop so it’s critical that the Australian wine sector has an online presence which promotes our brands in a genuine way.
“It’s opening up commercial opportunities for our wineries and building on a year of strong growth for Australian wine in the Chinese export market”, he said.
With Chinese consumers developing a taste for Australian wine, exports to China are at an all-time high.
Wine Australia’s most recent Export Report[1] shows exports to China grew by 55 per cent in value to AUD$1.12 billion and 47 per cent in volume to 184 million litres in the last year.
In an effort to drive awareness in the lead-up to the festival, specifically amongst China’s emerging wine drinkers, Alibaba and Wine Australia will bring the famous Chinese Chufei Churan twins to Tmall.com.
Chufei (Yoni) and Churan (Joyce) will visit Australia for the ultimate wine adventure and share their experiences with their one million plus followers as they experience Australia’s unique wine culture.
Itinerary highlights include a visit to Sydney Fish Markets for fresh oysters and sparkling wine and a wine-inspired dessert degustation created by former MasterChef contestant Reynold Poernomo at KOI Dessert Bar. The twins will also visit some iconic wineries in South Australia to savour their famous wines.
Maggie Zhou, Managing Director of Alibaba Group in Australia and New Zealand said: “After reviewing recent purchasing trends made via Alibaba’s platforms, we note the significant growth in imported wine purchases from China’s young generation. Upon further research, we found this group of young emerging wine drinkers are more experimental with their product choices and therefore more likely to purchase a unique wine from Australia.”
Zhou concluded that it was this recent trend that resulted in their decision to engage the Chufei Churan twins to promote Australia’s diverse wine offering over the duration of the festival.
The pair will host a meet and greet with fans at KOI Dessert Bar at Kensington Street Chippendale on the afternoon of Friday 7 September. KOI will continue to offer the exclusive wine and dessert pairings from 8–9 September, with Sydneysiders able to taste Chef Poernomo’s eight inspired desserts when using AliPay.
[1] Wine Australia Export Report, 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018
For media enquiries please contact
Patrice Pandeleos
Alibaba Group via Seven Communications
Phone: +61 405 995 050
Email: patrice@sevencommunications.com.au
Jackie Darque
Alibaba Group via Seven Communications
Phone: +61 438 504 419
Amelia Harris
Communications Manager, $50m Package
Wine Australia
Phone: +61 437 714 571
About Wine Australia
Wine Australia supports a competitive wine sector by investing in research, development and extension (RD&E), growing domestic and international markets, protecting the reputation of Australian wine and administering the Export and Regional Wine Support Package.
Wine Australia is an Australian Commonwealth Government statutory authority, established under the Wine Australia Act 2013, and funded by grape growers and winemakers through levies and user-pays charges and the Australian Government, which provides matching funding for RD&E investments.
About Tmall.com
Launched in April 2008, Tmall.com (www.tmall.com) is dedicated to providing a premium shopping experience for increasingly sophisticated Chinese consumers in search of top quality branded merchandise. A large number of international and Chinese brands and retailers have established storefronts on Tmall.com. According to iResearch, Tmall.com was China’s largest platform for brands and retailers in terms of monthly active users in 2015. Tmall.com is a business of Alibaba Group.