China is currently producing more beer than any other country in the world and that’s not just because of its population but also attributed to the ever growing consumer class. So, how are the beer brands doing in China and what are local beer drinkers looking for in their brew?

China Polling has recently launched an on-going survey on beer drinkers and there are some very interesting breakdowns when it comes to beer preferences.

We’re finding that women prefer the local Yan Jing (Beijing based national brand) over the other major brands. A 4.5 to 5% gap separates Yan Jing from its competitors when it comes to female drinkers. This potentially could be based on product differentiation since Yan Jing has been pushing fruit flavored products in the major markets over the last few years.

Powered by China Polling Real Time Stats, October 2009

This leaning towards women may also be attributed to the fact that Yan Jing has more of an older customer base (36 to 40+ segments) as seen in the next chart compared with other brands.

Powered by China Polling Real Time Stats, October 2009

Even with the growing prominence of beer brands such as Snow Beer (purportedly the biggest beer producer in China right now), Yan Jing seems to be have an edge on its competitors in Northern China. And the following chart shows the dominance of Yan Jing as a regional brand. This trend is in synch with the sampling that we’ve done on this survey but it clearly shows that Yan Jing has extremely strong brand equity in Northern China.

Powered by China Polling Real Time Stats, October 2009

So what type of suds are Chinese consumers into? The top choice is draft beer followed by light beer. Most Chinese beers are very light in taste which allows locals to become less intoxicated even after many “Gan Bei” or bottoms up which is a normal drinking practice. But draft beer in China, like everywhere else, is positioned as “fresher” products compared with none draft varieties. Stronger beer such as Guinness are just coming into the market so it will be interesting to see how thicker and richer beer fair in this “lighter” beer market. We will provide an update on this in a couple of months.

Powered by China Polling Real Time Stats, October 2009

Number of Samples: 244

Data Capture Period: 2009.9.10 – 2009.10.30

ChinaPolling conducts Omnibus Surveys on an ongoing basis to provide continuous tracking of consumer trends in China. This innovative approach to tracking consumer behavior will allow companies looking to enter the China market to get the most up to date information about what’s hot and what’s not here in China. The 20 question survey for this Beer Omnibus answers some very basic question of purchase decision for this very competitive market. All real-time datasets are available to purchase online. Additional questions can be added into the Omnibus Survey and field at any time. For more information please contact Allan Chou at allan@chinapolling.com.