Wuhan Huaxia Sugar, Wine and Food Co., Ltd. Chairman Xia Jinghuang

Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles; selling wine is not just a laborious job, but also a technical one. —Xia Jinghuang

After 30 years of perseverance, growing from a wine wholesaler to a professional supermarket channel distributor with a 300-person team, Xia Jinghuang, chairman of Wuhan Huaxia Sugar, Wine and Food Co., Ltd., always gives the impression of being smiling, calm, and humble. While others crave faster progress, he always thinks about how to go further in the long run.

Good at Learning, Precisely Grasping Market Trends

In Xia Jinghuang's view, for traditional wine merchants, selling wine is not very risky, but to grow bigger, one needs to continuously improve their vision, breadth of mind, and knowledge.

Having studied economics, Xia Jinghuang remains humble and eager to learn even after years in his position, and he is also very good at learning. At many industry forums, his figure can often be seen, and each time he actively seeks advice from industry experts with questions. At the same time, Xia Jinghuang believes that books hold golden houses; while other wine merchants are impetuously following trends, he insists on calmly delving into a wide range of books and independent thinking.

In his spare time, Xia Jinghuang not only reads books on wine, economics, and management, but also history books. Sometimes, when he encounters good TV dramas, he uses them as business teaching materials for in-depth study and research. Historical famous merchants like Hu Xueyan and Qiao Zhiyong are all role models for Xia Jinghuang. From their business experiences and philosophies, he gradually comprehends methods and lessons.

"The times are always changing; selling wine is not just a laborious job, but also a technical one. It requires continuous learning, thinking, and summarizing." Xia Jinghuang flexibly applies the patterns he learns to his daily business dealings and team management.

One of Xia Jinghuang's special skills is being adept at collecting industry data through various channels, then conducting his own horizontal and vertical chart analyses to judge macroeconomic trends, industry development trends, and changes in consumer demand. He uses these as important bases for decision-making to adjust refined market management strategies.

In the impetuous liquor industry, when many believe the industry is entering a rapid growth phase and should be aggressively expanded, Xia Jinghuang sees the potential risks behind it and believes one should be cautious and calm. Therefore, when the industry entered an adjustment period, Xia Jinghuang's team was still able to maintain a 30% growth rate.

When imported wines were not yet popular in China, Xia Jinghuang keenly sensed the trend for imported wines. He went to Hong Kong, France, and other places early on to inspect and learn, gaining a thorough understanding of every aspect from grape cultivation and processing to wine brewing, storage, transportation, and market sales. After comparing with domestic wine products, he became even more convinced of his judgment about the future business opportunities in imported wines. Not long after, he became the largest supplier of imported wines to the two major supermarket systems in Wuhan, Hubei: Zhongbai and Wushang.

Forming Alliances, Flexibly and Efficiently Integrating Resources

Xia Jinghuang believes that liquor distributors are always in a weak position in the industry chain. Only by continuously developing and strengthening their own strength can they gain more say in the game between manufacturers and distributors. Efficient cooperation while respecting market rules is more conducive to the mutual growth and strengthening of liquor merchants.

According to Xia Jinghuang's analysis, the profit margins of traditional liquor distributors face multiple pressures. On one hand, in the Internet age, market product information is transparent; on the other hand, large comprehensive e-commerce platforms and vertical e-commerce in sub-sectors, micro-businesses, and other emerging sales channels squeeze traditional channels and affect market prices. Therefore, in the future development of traditional distributors, they need to move upstream, joining the ranks of product suppliers through product cooperation, equity participation, and other means, while leveraging their existing strong downstream channels for integrated sales.

In November 2015, Huaxia Sugar and Wine officially established the Ezhou Core Merchant Alliance, which further deepened and developed the Ezhou market through core merchant collaboration, resource integration, and mutual benefit. The alliance has gradually grown in recent years and currently has over 160 members. In the past two months, Xia Jinghuang has also developed 30 new customers during market inspections and research in the provincial market.

In Xia Jinghuang's view, the alliance is not only a business cooperation platform but also a learning platform for distributors. Once united, the alliance can cope with various trend changes. Members of the alliance are not only increasingly confident but also more professional, gradually forming a win-win situation.

For example, in product selection, Xia Jinghuang's approach is to seek quality over quantity, and he hopes that each cooperation partner can become a long-term partner. Therefore, he is cautious, weighing whether his channel resources and marketing capabilities match the product, and also conducting a comprehensive inspection of each brand he cooperates with, including industry trends, brand genes, product quality, management team, management model, profit distribution methods, and other aspects. However, after forming the alliance, with trustworthy professional friends, the product selection process becomes much simpler. Not only is information sharing convenient, but they also understand each other's strengths, and the products recommended to each other are more accurate. Xia Jinghuang told a reporter from Wine Industry: "Currently, the products I select sell well, with the best-selling large single product selling 100,000 units per year."

Diligent in Summarizing, Actively Responding to Supermarket Channel Changes

Xia Jinghuang has been operating in supermarkets since 2004, with supermarkets as his main sales channel. After more than ten years of operation, Xia Jinghuang has summarized the characteristics of the supermarket channel: First, it is related to regionality; different regions determine the maturity of supermarkets and the sales space for distributors. Second, the width of the product line and the speed of adding new products. If a distributor's product line for supermarkets is not wide enough and new product additions are slow, operating in supermarkets will be more difficult, and their competitive advantage in supermarkets will weaken. Third, whether the stores developed have growth. Supermarkets are like small regional markets. We know that to increase sales, distributors need to either add products or expand sales areas. Opening stores is about expanding sales areas. If the number of stores entered is small and there are no new additions, then overall revenue will not be high. These factors determine the distributor's judgment and attitude towards supermarkets: if all these factors are present, then they believe supermarkets have great potential.

When Xia Jinghuang encountered bottlenecks in the supermarket channel, he did not choose to give up but actively adapted, gradually breaking new ground.

After consumption upgrades, the industry gradually recovered. On one hand, manufacturers kept raising product prices; on the other hand, supermarkets kept increasing promotion fees, coupled with rising labor costs, reducing profits for distributors operating in supermarkets. In this situation, Xia Jinghuang proposed that supermarket operators need to adjust their business models: First, work on product structure. Generally, supermarket operators have many best-selling products, but best-sellers often have thin margins, so they need to add profit-type products to compensate for increased costs. Second, work on the team's sales capabilities. The fundamental profit for supermarkets lies in people; high-quality, capable business teams can increase per-store sales. Third, innovate promotional activities. Promotions play an important role in supermarkets, so activity innovation is also an important factor in increasing sales. In addition to these breakthrough points, Huaxia Sugar and Wine established two professional teams for supermarkets and group purchases as early as 2008. They not only do not conflict but also promote each other, achieving multi-channel linkage.

Treating Employees with Heart, Cultivating a Highly Loyal Team

Xia Jinghuang told a reporter from Wine Industry: "Huaxia Sugar and Wine has nearly 300 employees, many of whom are old employees with about ten years of service. Over the years, there have been people coming and going, but basically no one has jumped to other companies." Regarding employee retention, Xia Jinghuang has not made hard requirements, only stating: "Once you enter the Huaxia family, even if you leave, you are still family."

"Our company has too many outstanding employees, and their touching stories are numerous. The 'Moving Huaxia Figure' award is only a supreme honor, with no bonus." Every April, Huaxia Sugar and Wine selects the "Moving Huaxia Figure" at its year-end summary and commendation conference, and the deeds of the selected figures each year move the attendees.

It is understood that Xia Jinghuang can remember the names of every new employee of Huaxia Sugar and Wine as long as he has met them, and can say them out loud at the next meeting. Employees praise General Manager Xia for his good memory, but Xia Jinghuang frankly says that he forgets many things quickly, but he is particularly attentive to employee matters, writing their names on paper and memorizing them repeatedly.

"Consistency between words and deeds, integrity, and service are important qualities that businessmen should possess. Everyone knows this, but not everyone can do it, and even fewer can do it to the extreme." Xia Jinghuang believes that when you do integrity and service well, you will not lack cooperation partners, and more and more people will be willing to follow you.

Source: Wine Industry

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