Diageo-backed baijiu brand looks to knock Moutai off its perch

Sichuan Swellfun, owned by London-based international alcoholic beverage giant Diageo, is seeking to take on rival Kweichow Moutai at the top of the shelf, launching a baijiu priced at an eye-watering 1,699 yuan ($256), Caixin reports. That is roughly the price of 10 comparably sized bottles of Jack Daniels whiskey or Absolut vodka. Swellfun’s new item is dearer than the 1,299-yuan Feitian baijiu produced by China’s legendary Kweichow Moutai – which passed Diageo earlier this year as the world’s most valuable distiller. Experts have expressed concern over Swellfun’s latest attempt to enter the high-end market. Compared with Moutai, Swellfun is weak in terms of branding, sales channels and popularity. In 2000, Swellfun took a sip of the high-end baijiu market with a 600-yuan item, at a time when Moutai’s average price was only 300 yuan a bottle. But the initiative fared poorly, and Swellfun’s profits declined for three consecutive years. In 2003 alone the company lost 176 million yuan.