A few shots of baijiu news:
The Moodie Report covered ByeJoe at this year’s IAADFS Duty Free Show of the Americas.
“ByeJoe has created two lighter versions (40% abv) of the spirit, in a bid to make it more palatable for Western consumers, but authentic enough for Chinese customers,” wrote Helen Pawson.
“ByeJoe made its foray into duty free in late 2014 with DFS at Los Angeles International Airport’s Tom Bradley International Terminal (LAX TBIT) and San Francisco International Airport.”
la.com reports on a recent baijiu dinner held at Crustacean restaurant in Los Angeles.
Spirits from Mianzhu Daqu, Jian Nan Chun, Luzhou Laojiao, Shui Jing Fang and Kweichow Moutai were served “all in the traditional way, with clinking glasses and felicitations at intervals during the meal. And while baijiu is definitely an acquired taste, we left slightly tipsy after all that 100-proof sipping and confident that the American market is probably ready for a new taste sensation.”
And the baijiu industry is partly responsible for the swift rise in exports of U.S. sorghum to China, states Bloomberg.
China stepped up purchases of U.S. sorghum in 2013 to supplement domestic production, which the USDA expects will remain steady this season as imports surge 68 percent to 7 million metric tons, the most ever. While the nation mostly uses the crop in hog and poultry feed, distillers have been fermenting the grain into baijiu for centuries. Domestic sales of the liquor climbed about 5.5 percent in 2014 from a year earlier, Nielsen data show. Spirit makers are now seeking to sell more to Western consumers.
In the wake of tumbling prices for wheat, corn, soybeans and cotton, more U.S. farmland is being planted with sorghum, with plantings expected to top 8 million hectares this year.
(Follow World Baiju Day on Facebook here or Twitter here.)
Founded in 2015, World Baijiu Day is held each August 9, with events in over 60 cities so far. Follow WBD on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And get in touch via spirit (at) worldbaijiuday.com.
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