In the early hours of May 16, the "i Moutai" platform announced retail price increases within its direct sales system for four products: Aged Moutai (15), Premium Moutai, 1L Feitian Moutai, and the Moutai Wine (Bingwu Horse Year) Collector's Edition. Concurrently, the retail price of Five-Star Moutai was adjusted at nationwide Moutai direct stores. This marks another significant price adjustment following the late March increase for the core flagship product, Feitian Moutai (500ml). The company stated this move adheres to the principles of following market trends, aligning supply with demand, balancing volume and price, and maintaining relative stability, aiming to foster a sound, orderly, and stable market environment. Notably, the retail prices for products like Aged Moutai (15) and Premium Moutai were comprehensively reshaped at the beginning of the year to reflect real demand. This latest minor adjustment based on market demand raises the question: what signals does this "flexible up-and-down" pricing mechanism of Moutai send? It is viewed as a genuine implementation of the market principle that "price is based on value," which helps prevent the market from being dominated by speculative sentiment and further drives prices to align with genuine supply and demand levels. This also aligns with the key signals conveyed by Moutai to channel distributors and investors during three crucial meetings held within a recent four-day period.
The price adjustments vary for the five products. The 53% vol 500ml Aged Kweichow Moutai (15) increased by 80 yuan from 4,199 yuan per bottle to 4,279 yuan. The 53% vol 500ml Kweichow Moutai (Premium) rose by 60 yuan from 2,299 yuan to 2,359 yuan per bottle. The Feitian 53% vol 1L Kweichow Moutai saw a 130 yuan increase from 2,989 yuan to 3,119 yuan per bottle. The 53% vol 500ml Kweichow Moutai (Bingwu Horse Year) Collector's Edition experienced the highest increase of 200 yuan, or approximately 8.0%, from 2,499 yuan to 2,699 yuan per bottle. Meanwhile, the Five-Star 53% vol 500ml Kweichow Moutai at offline direct stores was adjusted from 1,489 yuan to 1,529 yuan per bottle, an increase of 40 yuan.
Overall, this round of adjustments has several characteristics. First, regarding price points, it covers products across different tiers, from entry-level to mid-range and premium. Second, in terms of categories, products like Aged Moutai (15), Premium Moutai, and Zodiac Moutai are all market bestsellers with solid consumer foundations. Third, concerning specifications, the adjustments only involve larger-format products, with no changes made to smaller-format Moutai items. Industry observers note that consumers of larger-format Moutai are generally less sensitive to price changes. Smaller formats were originally designed to lower the consumption barrier, connect with younger consumer groups, and meet their needs for smaller, immediate consumption. Therefore, by not adjusting prices for smaller formats, Moutai considers the higher price sensitivity of this demographic. This helps maintain appeal to younger consumers and secure the entry point, while also optimizing the product price band system through adjustments to popular larger-format products, aligning with current market supply and demand.
This price adjustment is not an isolated event but another key step in Moutai's systematic market-oriented reform. In early 2026, the board of Kweichow Moutai reviewed and passed the "2026 Kweichow Moutai Market-Oriented Operation Plan," explicitly proposing to establish a dynamic adjustment mechanism for direct sales system retail prices that "follows market trends and remains relatively stable." At that time, based on actual market transaction prices, Moutai lowered the selling prices of multiple products, comprehensively reshaping the retail price system. On March 30, Moutai increased the sales contract price and direct sales system retail price for Feitian Moutai 500ml, breaking an eight-year freeze on the retail guidance price. The recent increase in retail prices for the five products, including Aged Moutai, Premium Moutai, and Five-Star Moutai, represents a deeper implementation of the "follow market trends" pricing strategy.
According to the latest data from JD Supermarket, the retail price for Aged Moutai (15) is approximately 4,400 yuan per bottle, Premium Moutai is around 2,500 yuan, and 1L Feitian Moutai is about 3,400 yuan per bottle. Additionally, data shows the terminal retail price for Premium Moutai is approximately 2,400 yuan per bottle. This indicates that the product price system established by Moutai at the beginning of the year is already below current market transaction prices. Particularly for bestsellers like Aged Moutai and Premium Moutai, there remains a significant "price gap" between market prices and retail guidance prices. Therefore, the price increases for these five products will bring them closer to real market transaction prices. Industry insiders believe that adjusting prices from Feitian Moutai to other series products signifies that Moutai's dynamic pricing mechanism is progressing orderly from core single products to the entire product line. Moutai's price system is comprehensively transitioning to a new stage guided by market supply and demand.
Following the break of the eight-year "price freeze" for Feitian Moutai retail prices in late March, this latest adjustment during the traditional off-season window aims to convey several signals to the market. First, it signals the normalization of price adjustments and the breaking of fixed circulation prices. The core signal of adjusting retail prices for these five products is that Moutai is transforming the "follow market trends" principle into an executable, routine operational mechanism. These products operate on a "consignment sales" model without a wholesale business model or so-called channel circulation prices. This makes price signals more stable, effectively preventing market sentiment from being disturbed by price signals from intermediaries.
Second, it signals enhanced operational capabilities. This "flexible up-and-down" pricing mechanism also indicates that Moutai's market-oriented operational capabilities are further improving, enabling more flexible responses to changes and maintaining stable market operations. Recently, Moutai has repositioned the manufacturer's overarching role as a "brand operator," an ecosystem builder driven by product, data, and user operations. In fact, this price adjustment exemplifies the manufacturer's function as a "brand operator," promptly capturing price signals for Moutai and making targeted adjustments.
Third, it aims to compress arbitrage opportunities. After this adjustment, the price gap between the retail prices of bestsellers like Aged Moutai and Premium Moutai and their real market transaction prices narrows. This will reduce the arbitrage space for speculative demand, effectively curbing price speculation, helping to steer Moutai back towards its consumer goods attributes, and ensuring fair and authentic purchases for genuine consumers.
Fourth, it aims to break market expectations of rigid pricing. Through frequent, minor, supply-and-demand-based price adjustments, Moutai intends to shatter the market's固有 expectation that Moutai prices "only rise, never fall" or remain "long-term僵化." It signals to the market that Moutai's prices are relatively stable, elastic, and capable of bidirectional浮动, formally entering a stage of "dynamic" scientific pricing.
Behind Moutai's latest price adjustments lies the establishment of a mature, proactive, and comprehensive market-oriented price management toolkit. The company is no longer passively reacting to the market but actively using pricing mechanisms to optimize product structure, reshape the channel ecosystem, and guide consumer behavior. This marks a deep transformation for Moutai from a model reliant on channel push to a healthier, more sustainable consumer brand operation model based on genuine consumer value perception.
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