Hai Liu, Vice General Manager
Tsingtao Brewery

Gama spoke to Hai Liu, Vice General Manager, Tsingtao Brewery.

What key trends do you expect to shape alcoholic drinks innovation in 2015?

In my opinion, the alcoholic drinks industry is facing an era of ever more diversified consumers who are demanding new styles and flavours of drinks and no longer demonstrate loyalty to one brand or category. In the past few years, the rise of craft beers and the preblended category has broken the dominance of industry giants like Budweiser. A more fragmented market will be the reality from now on.

 

Which markets (countries) or consumer groups currently offer the greatest growth opportunities for FMCG companies?

Growth in FMCG always comes from those countries with a stable government, strong / consistent economic growth, and larger populations. Southeast Asia and Africa will be the stars over the coming decades. In many ways these regions are just like China was 30 years ago.

 

Read the full interview in the next issue of Gama News.