Spring Sugar Fair | Pharmaceutical companies cross over to "grab" health wines, is Jinjiu facing its strongest competitor?

Ask AI · Pharmaceutical companies diversify into wellness liquor—what consumption logic changes are behind it?

From March 26 to March 28, the 114th National Sugar and Wine Commodities Fair was held in Chengdu. Unlike previous years, as traditional liquor giants such as Moutai and Wuliangye have been scaling back their participation in hotel exhibition battles, a group of “new faces” became the focus of this spring fair.

Dong’e Ejiao, Guangyuyuan, Tongrentang, and Yiling Health, among others, appeared under the identity of “wellness liquor,” showcasing a wide variety of products such as spirit drinks infused with Ejiao, Ejiao wine, and Ziren wine. Competing on the same stage with traditional wellness-liquor players such as Jinfang liquor, wellness liquor has been pushed onto a hot track at the 2026 Chengdu spring fair.

On one side is Jinfang liquor, which holds billions in revenue and became a viral sensation thanks to the “auntie fairy water.” On the other is this new wave of pharmaceutical players, bringing their own “nourishing” DNA and seeking a slice of the trillion-yuan market for low-alcohol liquor. This direct face-off—“pharmaceutical companies抢” the beach while “liquor companies守擂”—will it reshape the landscape of the wellness liquor track?

Chengdu spring fair现场。Photographed by the Nandu Bay Finance and Society reporter

A crowd of cross-industry players like pharmaceutical companies gather to exhibit—has wellness liquor become a “wealth password”?

At the Century City New International Exhibition Center in Chengdu, the “Yellow Wine and Wellness Liquor” section was packed.

In front of the Dong’e Ejiao booth, a bottle of “Ejiao wine” with an alcohol content of only 8–12 degrees attracted a large number of merchants who stopped to sample it. This old brand, known for Ejiao-related products, officially released its first low-alcohol liquor product this time. A company official said this is a new attempt by Dong’e Ejiao to integrate traditional Chinese medicine and liquor, and also an important step in its “pharmaceuticals + health consumer goods” strategy.

“Our wellness liquor is the main product we will push in 2026. The first order from distributors requires over 340k yuan. We are very optimistic about this track, and in the future we will continue to launch more wellness liquor series.” A staff member from Dong’e Ejiao told a reporter from Nandu Bay Finance and Society.

Not only Dong’e Ejiao—at the Sugar and Wine Fair, the Nandu Bay Finance and Society reporter also noticed that pharmaceutical companies such as Tongrentang and Guangyuyuan have shown up at the event under the identity of wellness liquor and brought along plenty of wellness-liquor products. Beyond pharmaceutical companies, traditional liquor players are also jumping in. In the exhibition halls of Gujinggong liquor and Hainan Yedao, the wellness liquor counters were crowded with wine merchants there to consult and sample.

Chengdu spring fair现场。Photographed by the Nandu Bay Finance and Society reporter

Even the招商 staff at the site said, “Wellness liquor is the hottest track in the liquor industry right now—don’t miss the chance to get rich.” “Herbs for replenishing qi and blood, for improving sleep, for regulating the stomach and intestines… all kinds of herbal wellness liquors are everywhere.” A distributor who visited the site told a reporter from Nandu Bay Finance and Society, “Many people around me are paying attention to herbal liquor.”

The warming of the wellness liquor track is driven by profound changes in consumption trends.

Against the backdrop of continued contraction in the size of the traditional liquor (baijiu) market, low-alcohol and lightly-intoxicated drinking have become the main trends in liquor consumption. According to data from the China Liquor Industry Association, the low-alcohol liquor market in 2025 is expected to reach 74 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate as high as 25%, and is expected to break 340k yuan within the next 2–3 years.

Among them, spirit liquors (露酒) have shown particularly strong growth. Data shows that between 2020 and 2024, the profit growth in the spirit liquor industry was close to 200%; in 2025, the industry’s scale is expected to reach 65 billion yuan. It is expected that by 2030, the spirit liquor market will reach 200 billion yuan.

Some analysts believe that the core consumer group of this market is young people aged 18 to 35—who pursue the lightly-intoxicated drinking experience while also emphasizing the “punk wellness” demand for health benefits, becoming the underlying driving force behind this wave of popularity for wellness liquor.

Chengdu spring fair现场。Photographed by the Nandu Bay Finance and Society reporter

The “2025 New Wine Beverage Industry Development Report” shows that the share of liquor consumption for government/official and business purposes fell from 36% in 2020 to 27% in 2024, while the share of self-enjoyment consumption rose from 29% to 37%. Socializing and emotional self-enjoyment account for as much as 79% of the purchase purposes of new wine beverages. The consumption logic has already been reshaped—from “drinking for other people” to “drinking for yourself.”

Against this backdrop, Jinfang liquor went viral on social platforms due to the “auntie fairy water.” In 2025, Jinfang liquor company’s revenue is expected to reach 13.7 billion yuan, up 9.6% year over year, and the growth rate of the core brand Jinfang liquor is expected to exceed 20%. Even more noteworthy is that in the past two years, Jinfang liquor has added 9 million new users aged 18–30 and 4 million female users. Before the Spring Festival, small-bottle Jinfang liquor even experienced supply shortages.

With new forces entering the market, will they pose a challenge to Jinfang liquor?

In response to the influx of new players, Jinfang liquor chose to fight a defensive battle by launching high-density advertising.

Since the beginning of 2026, Jinfang liquor has not only continued to run brand advertisements on CCTV with brand film campaigns, but has also rolled out a series of advertisements in key national cities—building elevators, and large outdoor screens in core commercial districts. Analysts believe the purpose of this “CCTV + buildings” combination is clear: to strengthen the brand association in consumers’ minds that “herbal wellness liquor = Jinfang liquor,” thereby resisting diversion by new entrants.

But based on feedback at the Chengdu spring fair, merchants’ attitudes are becoming more cautious.

One wine merchant admitted that Jinfang liquor’s brand strength is indeed strong, with ads everywhere and high consumer awareness. However, now pharmaceutical companies such as Dong’e Ejiao and Guangyuyuan have also entered. They already come with trust-backed attributes related to health. When selecting products, distributors and channel partners will consider factors such as the manufacturer’s support policies, product profit margins, and the manufacturer’s ability to drive product sales, among other considerations.

Chengdu spring fair现场。Photographed by the Nandu Bay Finance and Society reporter

Other industry insiders also pointed out that although Jinfang liquor’s advertising campaign is huge, whether it can truly be converted into terminal sales still needs to be observed—especially since acceptance of herbal wellness liquor among young consumers is still in the cultivation stage, brand loyalty has not yet been solidified, and whether the “try-it-for-fun effect” brought by advertising can settle into sustained repeat purchases is still unknown.

As for new entrants such as Dong’e Ejiao, every item—channel expansion, supply-chain assurance, and cultivating user loyalty—is a test of the company’s overall strength. Liquor industry analysts believe that aside from Jinfang liquor, there has not yet been a clear second or third leading brand in the wellness liquor track, which provides an opportunity for new entrants to break through the market. But opportunities and challenges coexist.

It is worth noting that amid the booming wellness liquor track, industry compliance issues are also worth关注. The Nandu Bay Finance and Society reporter, during visits at the Sugar and Wine Fair, found that many liquor merchants did not have a clear understanding of ordinary wellness liquors such as spirit liquors (露酒) and prepared liquors (配制酒). When consulting, the questions asked most often were “What’s the use after drinking?” and “What effects does it have?” Meanwhile, some招商 staff, when introducing products, exaggerated ordinary wellness liquors into products said to have therapeutic effects—an issue that needs to be addressed head-on in the industry’s development of standardized practices.

A liquor industry analyst pointed out that the root cause of chaos in the wellness liquor market lies in the fact that consumers generally can’t distinguish clearly between spirit liquors (露酒), prepared liquors (配制酒), and health supplements (保健酒). Their habitual questioning about “efficacy” gives some companies room to exaggerate publicity, and even to add ingredients illegally. At the same time, in the period when the wellness liquor industry is rapidly expanding, standards are not yet fully in place. Some players enter with a mindset of “making quick money,” focusing on marketing over R&D, resulting in uneven quality and “adjacent-to-compliance” promotional claims.

Written and edited by: Nandu Bay Finance and Society reporter Zhang Haixia; intern Liu Meixiu