The market-oriented reform of Kweichow Moutai (600519. SH) ushered in a key step.

In the afternoon of November 10, Wang Li (acting as the general manager), a director of Kweichow Moutai, said at the third quarter performance briefing that I Moutai would gradually change from the current rush buying mode to the daily selling mode to meet consumer needs.

I Moutai is the self operated e-commerce platform of Kweichow Moutai, which will be put into trial operation on March 31, 2022. According to the third quarter report data of 2026, Maotai achieved a non tax revenue of 58.562 billion yuan from the beginning of the year to the end of the reporting period, accounting for about 43.9% of the total operating revenue of 133.284 billion yuan, and has become a crucial self operated channel in the Maotai system.

Not only Maotai, but also the role of distributors is changing. In the consignment sales model, all consumer behavior is completed on the i Maotai platform, and distributors earn not the price difference of the liquor, but the service fee.

At the beginning of 2026, Kweichow Moutai started the market-oriented transformation with consumers as the center. The main actions of the reform include launching Maotai on all products and opening self operated stores to the public for sales; Change the traditional model of stocking up on channels in the past and establish a dynamic delivery model driven by market demand, which accurately delivers based on the sales and inventory situation of each region and channel, and arranges payment before delivery to maintain channel health.

Wang Li said that the reform is still ongoing. At present, the Baijiu industry is still in the process of deep adjustment, and the trend of weak consumption demand and reduced consumption scenarios has not fundamentally changed. Kweichow Moutai and Maotai Maotai are both facing challenges and tests from the market. The purpose of market-oriented reform and transformation is to establish a market system that adapts supply and demand, balances quantity and price, and is orderly and stable on the basis of supply side balance. This is also the main direction of Maotai's next market work.

Xiao Zhuqing, an expert in the liquor industry, believes that the most symbolic step of this round of market-oriented reform is to promote Moutai to gradually shift from regular rush purchase to dynamic replenishment and daily sales. The essence is to pull Moutai back from the investment target to the consumer goods track, and use digital tools to achieve supply and demand adaptation, quantity price balance, which has demonstration value for Moutai itself, the channel ecology, and the entire Baijiu industry.

Moutai will gradually shift from panic buying to daily sales

In this round of reform in Kweichow Moutai, the launch of all series of products is a key measure.

Starting from January 1, 2026, the 53 degree 500ml Feitian Maotai will be available for sale on the i Maotai platform for the first time at a price of 1499 yuan per bottle, with a daily limit of 12 bottles per person. Within half an hour of its launch, multiple rounds of restocking have sold out within 30 seconds. On July 18th, the retail price of Feitian Maotai was raised to 1639 yuan per bottle.

According to a survey conducted by reporters, with the continuous increase in volume of Maotai, the gap between its selling price and the actual market transaction price is narrowing. Currently, the markup space for second-hand platform scalpers has been compressed to 50-60 yuan per bottle.

The revenue share of Maotai is also increasing. In the first three quarters of this year, Kweichow Moutai achieved a total revenue of 133.284 billion yuan, up 1.82% year on year; Among them, Maotai has achieved a cumulative revenue of 58.562 billion yuan excluding taxes from alcoholic beverages, a year-on-year increase of about 360%.

Within one year, the channel income structure of Kweichow Moutai has changed significantly. In the first three quarters of 2025, Maotai's direct sales channel revenue was 55.555 billion yuan, while its wholesale agency channel revenue was 72.842 billion yuan, with wholesale agency accounting for approximately 56.73% and direct sales accounting for approximately 43.27%; In the first three quarters of 2026, the revenue from direct sales channels surged to 73.774 billion yuan, while that from wholesale agents decreased to 57.12 billion yuan. The proportion of direct sales increased to 56.36%, while that from wholesale agents decreased to 43.64%. The revenue shares of the two channels have been swapped.

Regarding the next plan for Maotai, Wang Li revealed three directions: firstly, gradually shifting from the current rush buying model to a sales model that meets consumers' daily needs; Secondly, as the launch platform for the company's new products; Thirdly, we aim to develop Maotai into a service platform that collaborates with offline stores and other service providers, continuously improving the quality of our services to consumers.

From November 11, there will be 16 types of Kweichow Moutai liquor products, including 53% vol 500ml (fine), 53% vol 500ml aged Kweichow Moutai liquor (15), 53% vol 500ml aged Kweichow Moutai liquor (30), 53% vol 500ml Kweichow Moutai liquor (Year of Horse) classic version, which will adopt the full day dynamic replenishment mode. Other Kweichow Moutai liquor products will be launched in the original mode.

Dealer Role Transformation

In the first three quarters of this year, Kweichow Moutai's direct sales channel achieved a main business income of 73.774 billion yuan, an increase of 32.79% over 55.555 billion yuan in the same period last year; The wholesale agency channel achieved a revenue of 57.12 billion yuan, a decrease of 21.58% from 72.842 billion yuan in the same period last year.

The growth of direct sales channels is achieved under the premise of unchanged total plate and offline distributor Feitian Maotai liquor quota. Therefore, the shrinkage of traditional distribution channels and the resulting significant reduction in contract liabilities have become the focus of investors' attention.

In the Baijiu industry, contract liabilities are generally regarded as advance receipts from dealers who pay in advance and have not yet picked up the goods. High contract liabilities often mean that dealers are optimistic about the future market and are willing to lock up the goods in advance; A significant decline in contract liabilities may reflect a weakening of channel expectations or a proactive adjustment of inventory pressure by liquor companies.

In the first three quarters of this year, the contract liability index of Kweichow Moutai fell by 73.97% to 2.084 billion yuan compared with the end of last year.

Regarding this, Wang Li explained the changes in the underlying business logic. In 2026, Kweichow Moutai will change the traditional market operation mode of pushing goods from channels to promote the dynamic matching between supply and market demand. On the one hand, the self operated channel system directly reaches the enhancement of consumer power, and some products are sold on behalf of others through social channels without transferring property rights, neither of which forms advance receipts; On the other hand, establish a dynamic product placement model for social channels driven by market demand, accurately place products based on the sales and inventory situation of each region and channel, and arrange payment before placement.

Wang Li said that the traditional model of prepayments and stockpiling through channels in the industry can no longer adapt to the profound changes in the consumer end. With the deepening of market-oriented operations, the size of prepayments is no longer the main indicator for measuring market supply and demand.

The consignment model was launched in early 2026 along with the market-oriented reform plan, with the core principle of non transfer of property rights: distributors do not need to buy out the ownership of goods, no longer earn price differences, only need to pay a deposit, and the ownership of the product still belongs to Maotai. All consignment products must be sold through the Maotai platform, and the price is based on the official unified retail price. Distributors receive service fees.

Some investors are worried that this model will not only affect the sales enthusiasm of dealers, but also may affect the income of Kweichow Moutai. Wang Li responded that the overall operation of the agency sales model is stable, and sales meet expectations. However, she also admitted that the operation is still in the exploratory stage and needs further improvement and perfection.

Regarding the balance of interests between direct sales and traditional distributors, Wang Li pointed out that previous reforms have focused more on the supply side, while this round of reform focuses on the market side. Balancing quantity and price, as well as market stability, have become important criteria for considering and judging the healthy operation of the market.

Channel collaboration will be the focus of future market-oriented operations: firstly, while maintaining the stability of the channel system and business model, further optimizing and improving the authorization and cooperation mechanism of social channel partners, and enhancing the level of market operation collaboration from product sales, market promotion, brand promotion, service experience, and other aspects; Secondly, Maotai continues to focus on consumers' demands for fairness, authenticity, and convenience, gradually shifting from the current rush buying model to a daily sales model that meets consumer needs; The third is to continuously expand the target customer base of self operated stores, open sales to the society, and meet the real consumption needs of the market.

No new production capacity added in 2027

The pace of Maotai's production capacity release has always been a focus of investors' attention.

At the end of 2022, Maotai announced the 14th Five Year Plan technological transformation project for Maotai liquor, which is expected to bring an additional annual production capacity of 19800 tons. However, the project has only put into operation two liquor making workshops in 2025, and the vast majority of production capacity has not yet been implemented.

Wang Li stated at the performance briefing that the pace of capacity release will be comprehensively evaluated based on full consideration of the ecological carrying capacity of geographical indication protection areas and the cultivation of craftsmen, combined with market conditions. At present, the production of Kweichow Moutai liquor in 2027 has ended. After the preliminary comprehensive evaluation, there is no new production capacity of Maotai base liquor.

At the meeting, some investors expressed doubts about whether the convenience of purchasing Maotai liquor through i-Maotai, self operated stores, and specialty stores would shake consumers' long-term perception of Maotai liquor scarcity.

Wang Li believes that this is a misunderstanding of the scarcity of Maotai. "In the past, due to the layers of insulation on the supply side, consumers dared not buy, could not buy, or needed to raise prices to buy. Essentially, the supply side was not suitable for consumer demand and could not reach real consumers. The obstruction of circulation channels and speculation caused extreme inconvenience for consumers to purchase, and the inability to buy liquor in specialty stores has almost become a social consensus. Treating the inability to buy liquor caused by hoarding, speculation, and premium in the circulation of goods as scarcity is a misunderstanding of the scarcity of Maotai liquor.

Wang Li believes that the scarcity of Maotai liquor stems from the long-term synergy of unique and irreplaceable natural ecology, microecology, and cultural ecology.

Faced with the question of whether the performance in the fourth quarter can be reversed, Wang Li said that we cannot rely solely on indicators, let alone exhaust all resources.

(Author Zheng Yuxin)