Industry declines 1.1%, yet Chongqing Beer grows against the trend?

Listing | Zhongfang Network

Review | Li Xiaoyan

On March 10th, Chongqing Brewery (600132.SH) released its 2025 annual report. Despite a complex environment of slowing consumer markets, declining industry output, and fierce competition, the company delivered steady growth in sales, revenue, and net profit attributable to shareholders, demonstrating operational resilience by outperforming the industry. It also built core barriers through product innovation, brand marketing, quality control, and ESG development. This performance highlights the high-quality growth of leading liquor companies and exposes challenges such as slowing growth, regional dependence, cost pressures, and competition, providing a reference for the industry’s breakthrough in the stock era.

In 2025, China’s beer industry faced overall pressure. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the total beer production of enterprises above designated size was 35.36 million kiloliters, down 1.1% year-on-year, marking a deep adjustment period of stock competition and structural upgrading. Against this backdrop, Chongqing Brewery achieved countercyclical growth: sales of 2.9952 million kiloliters, up 0.68%; operating revenue of 14.722 billion yuan, up 0.53%; net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.231 billion yuan, up 10.43%. Profit growth far exceeded revenue growth, highlighting stable volume, slight revenue increase, and accelerated profit margins.

From an operational perspective, this growth stems from a combination of product mix optimization, channel deepening, and operational efficiency improvements. Compared to the industry’s output decline, Chongqing Brewery’s sales of flagship brands achieved positive growth, demonstrating channel penetration through its domestic and international dual-brand matrix. Double-digit profit growth relied on higher per-ton prices driven by premiumization and craft brewing, as well as supply chain optimization and cost control, enabling high-quality growth amid industry-wide modest increases.

However, behind these impressive figures are concerns: revenue growth slowed to just 0.53%, significantly lower than previous years, reflecting weak consumer recovery and intensified market competition constraining scale expansion. Although Q4 revenue increased by 5.12% year-on-year, net profit attributable to shareholders experienced seasonal losses. Seasonal fluctuations and marketing expenses still need balancing, and the stability and acceleration potential of growth remain challenges.

Leveraging a dual-driven brand matrix of local and international brands, Chongqing Brewery has established a full-category layout covering mass, mid-range, high-end, and ultra-premium segments. Local brands include Wusu, Chongqing, and Shancheng; international brands include Carlsberg, Lübber, and 1664, precisely matching diverse regional, scenario, and consumer group needs.

In 2025, the company launched over 30 new products, focusing on craft beer, tea beer, large 1L cans, and other industry trends, while also crossing into non-beer categories such as fruit-flavored soda and energy drinks, breaking the limitations of a single category. In 2026, the company will continue its innovation rhythm, with products like Wusu Spring Limited 8.88L, Wusu Golden Junmei craft beer, and Chongqing Guobin dual-hop beer set to ignite the market. Festive editions such as New Year’s and Spring Festival gift boxes will boost seasonal consumption; summer collaborations with Yile Xian Di and Lübber’s frozen beer will target young consumers’ micro-intoxication scenarios, driven by product innovation and scene segmentation.

The high-end product strategy has shown remarkable results. At the 2025 China International Beer Challenge, 15 products won awards, making Chongqing Brewery the top award-winning company for five consecutive years. Lübber Pure Draft received the Four-Star Tianlu Award. At the World Beer Awards, eight craft beers won four “China Best” awards, along with four gold, two silver, and two bronze medals. Brands like Brooklyn and JingA have entered the international top tier. However, there are uncertainties in new product R&D investment and market conversion efficiency. Non-beer categories are still in cultivation, unlikely to contribute significant short-term profits, and the profitability balance of the product matrix needs improvement.

Since 2025, Chongqing Brewery has centered its branding around festivals, sports, and cultural tourism, strengthening emotional connections with consumers and translating brand value into market competitiveness.

In festival marketing, themed activities are launched during Chinese New Year, Christmas, and other key periods, integrating AIGC technology for visual design and interactive content. Brands like Carlsberg and 1664 deepen their presence in the ultra-premium market. In sports marketing, partnerships include the Yuzhou Super League, Chongqing Marathon, and collaborations with Liverpool and Guangdong Super League, leveraging sports IP to appeal to younger audiences. In cultural tourism, Wusu aligns with Xinjiang tourism, Chongqing emphasizes urban culture, and Dali leverages Yunnan folk customs, blending regional culture with brand IP to activate local consumer resonance.

Scene-based marketing effectively enhances brand penetration, but regional dependence remains prominent, with the Southwest and Northwest markets contributing most revenue. Expansion in East China and South China has not met expectations. Additionally, industry marketing homogenization intensifies, with fierce competition in sports and cultural tourism sectors, making differentiation and cost-effectiveness in marketing ongoing challenges.

Quality control is Chongqing Brewery’s core moat. In 2025, seven employees were selected for the eighth National Beer Tasting Committee, with one named Chief. The company has trained over 200 tasting professionals over three years in collaboration with the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, covering the entire production and R&D chain, ensuring product quality stability through a professional talent system. International awards recognize quality and support the brand’s high-end positioning.

In ESG, the company continues to lead the industry, maintaining an MSCI ESG AA rating, one of the highest among A-share food and beverage companies. In May 2025, five breweries were recognized as national green factories, and the company received honors such as Extel’s “Best ESG” and Fortune China’s ESG Influence List. In 2026, following Carlsberg Group’s “Brewing the Future” plan, the company will focus on decarbonization, ecological protection, guiding consumer choices, and empowering employees, promoting sustainable strategies and integrating ESG deeply with operations for long-term development.

However, ESG development requires ongoing investment. Green factory upgrades and low-carbon technology R&D entail short-term cost pressures. Meanwhile, stricter environmental standards across the industry mean leading companies are increasing ESG efforts, and competitive advantages through differentiation need further strengthening.

President Li Zhigang announced the 2026 theme “Innovation and Efficiency, Building New Heights,” focusing on product innovation, operational efficiency, and organizational upgrades to promote high-quality development. Currently, the industry’s trend toward premiumization, diversification, and health-conscious products is clear. In a stock-based competition environment, structural upgrading remains the core growth logic. Chongqing Brewery’s dual-brand matrix, full-scene channels, and advantages in quality and ESG lay a solid foundation for future growth.

Risks include uncertain consumer recovery, raw material price fluctuations, intense regional market competition, and underperforming new product development, all potentially impacting performance. The slowdown in revenue growth and reliance on structural upgrades for profit increase also require balancing scale expansion with efficiency improvements.

Overall, Chongqing Brewery’s 2025 financial report reflects the high-quality development of beer companies in the stock era: resilient operations amid industry pressures, innovation-driven growth potential, and quality and ESG as long-term barriers. The challenges include slowing growth, regional concentration, and cost pressures, while opportunities lie in premiumization, category expansion, and nationwide deployment. Moving forward, continuous innovation, efficiency improvements, and collaboration are essential to consolidating advantages amid industry transformation and achieving sustainable, steady growth.