The 1,499 yuan red line becomes history: Moutai raises prices twice again after eight years

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A single price adjustment notice from Moutai has once again shaken the liquor industry.

Starting from March 31, 2026, the sales contract price of Feitian 53% vol 500ml Moutai (2026) will be raised from 1,169 yuan per bottle to 1,269 yuan per bottle, and the self-operated retail price will be raised from 1,499 yuan per bottle to 1,539 yuan per bottle, with increases of 100 yuan and 40 yuan respectively.

After the price adjustment, the self-operated retail price of Feitian Moutai is basically on par with the current wholesale market price. According to third-party platform "Today's Liquor Price" data on March 30, the reference wholesale price of 2026 53-degree Feitian Moutai is 1,545 yuan per bottle.

Combining the dynamic pricing mechanism of "adjusting with the market, relatively stable," proposed in the early-year "2026 Guizhou Moutai Market Operation Plan," this price adjustment can be seen as Moutai’s "first shot" at moving with the market.

This is the first time in eight years, since New Year's Day 2018, that Moutai has synchronously raised both ex-factory and retail prices.

The last synchronized price hike occurred at the beginning of 2018, when the entire liquor industry was booming. At that time, Moutai’s ex-factory price increased from 819 yuan to 969 yuan, retail price rose from 1,299 yuan to 1,499 yuan, with an average increase of about 18%.

But the situation then was entirely different from today: the entire liquor industry was in a price surge, Moutai's terminal market price was nearly uncontrollable, the actual transaction price of Feitian reached as high as 1,800 yuan per bottle, channel hoarding and scalper speculation were rampant, and the official guided price was virtually ignored.

After this round of price increases, Moutai's revenue in 2018 reached 73.639 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 26.49%, and its market value surpassed one trillion yuan for the first time.

This time, the biggest variable in the "double increase" comes from the successful volume-release of iMoutai and the resulting reshaping of the market environment.

On January 1, 2026, Moutai officially began regular sales of Feitian Moutai at the official guided price of 1,499 yuan on its self-operated e-commerce platform, iMoutai.

Data shows that in January, iMoutai added 6.28 million new users, monthly active users exceeded 15.31 million, over 1.45 million consumers successfully purchased, with more than 2.12 million orders completed, including over 1.43 million Feitian Moutai orders.

Calculating at a minimum of one bottle per order, Feitian alone brought at least 2.144 billion yuan revenue to iMoutai in one month.

This surge did not cause the market to collapse: Feitian Moutai’s wholesale market price climbed to over 1,700 yuan before and after the Spring Festival, and even after the festival in the off-season remained at a relatively high level around 1,560 yuan.

The deeper significance of iMoutai’s successful volume release lies in Moutai’s first time regaining channel dominance and profit distribution rights. At the same time, through platform data, Moutai can directly observe real demand and use this as a basis to adjust its channel-wide pricing strategy.

For performance, the "double increase" will have an immediate effect.

According to institutional forecasts, Guizhou Moutai's net profit growth for 2025 has slowed to about 5.5%, and net profit growth below 10% is extremely rare in Moutai’s history.

Assuming annual Feitian Moutai sales of about 100 million bottles, with self-operated and distribution channels each accounting for half, the contract price increase of 100 yuan per bottle for distribution and 40 yuan per bottle for self-operated channels could bring an incremental revenue of about 7 billion yuan.

After deducting taxes, net profit increment is expected to be around 3.5 billion yuan. For Moutai, which is undergoing a growth rate switch, this increase is of obvious significance.

But for distributors, the impact of the price adjustment is more complex.

Raising the contract price means distributors’ procurement costs increase, but the price difference between it and the retail price narrows from 330 yuan to about 270 yuan, compressing profit margins.

Meanwhile, Moutai is advancing reform of agent sales for non-standard products, requiring distributors to complete sales through iMoutai, with a 5% rebate from Moutai as profit, shifting distributors to service providers.

It is foreseeable that the profit structure of distribution channels will continue to be reshaped, and the traditional profit model of "stockpiling and waiting for price hikes" will rapidly exit the stage of history.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market has risks, and investment requires caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it consider the special investment goals, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, viewpoints, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific situation. Investing based on this is at your own risk. ```