MCM believed since the beginning of the high potential on the Chinese market due to the growing numbers of consumers in China. The market growth was significant in regard to the numbers in 2009 and 2010. In 2009 the Chinese market was the 9th largest wine market by volume and in 2010 the Chinese wine market was the 4th largest wine market of consumers in the world.
Besides the numbers and statistics which were interesting for MCM, there was another reason for the company to enter the Chinese market. Within the Chinese society the consumption of wine became more and more attractive, because it symbolizes a kind of the Western world lifestyle. Red wine was with 90% the wine with the highest numbers of consumes. Therefore MCM decided to start with the import of red wine from South Africa to China.
For MCM it was important to differentiate itself from the other wines offered in China. It was important to sell a wine of high quality and good reputation. The company was aware of the fact that a foreign, more exotic wine on the Chinese market was linked directly linked with the reputation of a better quality. MCM knew that if they want to have high numbers in sales it was important to not only promote the wine as high quality product, but also to promote the wine as a beverage coming from South Africa. To reach the highest number of potential customers, MCM decided to fix the price at a middle range. In this way, the wine was affordable for a higher number of consumers, but was still seen in the better quality level.
MCM was aware of the eventual difficulties which could appear at the beginning of the business idea. That was the reason why they chose to work with a local business partner. This partner knew better the language, culture and specifies of the Chinese market. The Chinese business partner had the task to create relationships with restaurants, distributors and other customers. The next step was to choose a local