After the price increase of Feitian Maotai, the Changsha market is filled with inquiries but few buyers.

On the evening of March 30, a single announcement from Kweichow Moutai shattered the stable official retail prices that had held steady for eight straight years. The contract price for 53-degree Feitian Moutai was raised from 1169 yuan per bottle to 1269 yuan per bottle, and the self-operated system’s retail price was adjusted from 1499 yuan per bottle to 1539 yuan per bottle. This is the first time Moutai has raised its retail price since 2018. What are the current prices of Feitian Moutai in local cigarette and liquor stores in Changsha? Has related sales been affected? On April 3, a reporter conducted field visits.

Visits: Terminal prices rose on the spot; consumers take a wait-and-see stance

On that day, the Changsha Sanxiang Metropolis Daily reporter visited multiple cigarette and liquor shops in Changsha and found that terminal market prices jumped immediately, but consumers’ wait-and-see sentiment was strong. The scene was cold, marked by “lots of questions, few purchases.”

At Jiu Jia Cigarette and Liquor Shop in Kaifu District, the shop owner was holding up her phone to show customers the official Moutai price-adjustment notice. “The official contract price went up by 100 yuan, and the self-operated price went up by 40 yuan. Our small shop’s price also went up along with it,” she said. She added, “This year’s Feitian Moutai in our shop is priced at 1700 yuan per bottle. A week ago, it was still selling for a little above 1600 yuan.”

The shop owner admitted that since the price-adjustment news was released on March 30, Moutai prices at other cigarette and liquor shops have been quietly rising, but the market response has been rather flat. “People asking about prices really did increase a lot. Everyone wants to know exactly how much it went up, but not many actually place orders. Now prices are unstable, and we only have one bottle of spot inventory on hand at the shop. If someone needs it, they have to reserve in advance so we can arrange procurement.”

“I’m here to ask the price, not to buy.” At Jiu Jia Cigarette and Liquor Shop, Mr. Zhang, a local resident, told reporters that he has been keeping an eye on Moutai’s price. After hearing that prices were raised, he came specifically to check the situation. “Since the price isn’t stable, I plan to wait a bit and see—maybe it will come back down after some time. And it’s not a holiday right now, so there’s no need to rush to buy.”

At Xinli Supermarket’s Sifangping branch, the price given by the shop owner was 1680 yuan per bottle. “Before the Spring Festival, we sold at 1790 yuan per bottle, and we couldn’t even meet demand. Now that the holiday consumption rush has passed, the price has come down somewhat, but there are fewer buyers instead,” he said helplessly. “Don’t think Moutai is raising prices—we at the retail end basically can’t make much money. After deducting store rent and labor costs, we make at most dozens of yuan per bottle.” He also shared a small industry secret: “Feitian Moutai’s price changes almost day by day recently, and the price for original cases is different from that for loose bottles. The original case is about 140 yuan more per bottle, mainly because the collection value is higher.”

After visiting multiple cigarette and liquor shops, the reporter found that in Changsha, the retail price of 53-degree Feitian Moutai is generally between 1650 yuan and 1750 yuan per bottle, which is an increase of 50 to 100 yuan compared with before the price adjustment. Data from food-delivery platforms show that most stores have monthly sales of no more than 10 orders. Among them, Jiujiu Beichen Qinglan Road store ranks first with monthly sales of 59 orders, and the delivered price after coupons is as high as 1979 yuan.

Industry view: Market-oriented reform is the main cause of the price increase

Third-party platform “Today’s Liquor Prices” data show that on April 3, the price of original cases of Feitian Moutai of the 2026 model increased by 5 yuan from yesterday, to 1720 yuan. The loose-bottle price was 1570 yuan per bottle, down 15 yuan from yesterday. According to JD data, in the first quarter, the sales revenue of Moutai on JD Supermarket grew by more than 50% year on year. For the 1539 yuan Feitian Moutai that went on sale on March 31, each batch of available inventory sold out in under 1 minute. But this heat did not translate to offline retail. Shop owners in Changsha generally reported that after the price increase, sales did not rise but actually fell.

In January this year, Moutai released the 《2026 Kweichow Moutai Market-Oriented Operation Plan》, clearly stating that it would build a dynamic adjustment mechanism for self-operated retail prices of “follow the market and remain relatively stable.” This price adjustment is the first rollout and execution of that mechanism.

“During this Moutai price increase, the most directly affected ones are us distributors,” said Mr. Wu, who has been engaged in liquor wholesale for many years. “In past years, the Moutai distributor channel had formed a stable profit space. There is a considerable price spread between the factory price and the market price, which used to be the thickest ‘safety cushion’ in the channel process. Now, this price increase directly erodes our profit at the retail end.”

“Moutai is trying to compress channel-side profits from the source by reconstructing the price system, and to indirectly push some distributors to exit, gradually dismantling the old model of ‘manufacturer-distributor bundling.’” An industry insider analyzed, “Raising both the factory price and the retail price at the same time is a strategic reflection of Moutai’s aggressive push of a direct-sale system. The purpose is to take back the profits that have flowed away to distributors and the secondary market.”

Regarding the future price trend, multiple industry insiders believe that in the short term, prices will remain volatile, but in the long term there is still room for increases. The shop owner of Xinli Supermarket predicted: “If Moutai continues to control supply, prices may rise to 1800 yuan per bottle. But for now, everyone is still heavily in a wait-and-see mood, and in the short term prices won’t rise significantly.”

Full-media reporter Long Siyán; correspondent Yang Chenyì

Editor-in-charge Chen Shuyu; intern Zhou Yuejiao

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