Year-opening release of 1499-yuan Feitian Moutai: "Power consolidation" and reform

The iMoutai listing of the 1499 yuan Feitian Moutai has been up for nearly a week, with sustained high market attention.

On the evening of January 3, Moutai officially disclosed that over 100,000 purchases were made on the platform in three days, and subsequently announced the daily subscription limit for Feitian Moutai would be tightened from 12 bottles to 6 bottles.

Starting January 4, this new limit formally took effect, meaning individual consumers’ purchasing quota was directly halved. Even so, the Feitian Moutai released daily on the platform is still "sold out immediately" upon launch.

The flattening of channels has directly impacted scalpers' speculation space, causing market prices to fluctuate accordingly.

Data from the third-party liquor pricing platform "Today's Liquor Price" shows that on January 4, the wholesale price of 2025 Feitian Moutai fell below 1499 yuan per bottle again, dropping about 100 yuan compared to one week ago.

Although the price subsequently rebounded to above 1500 yuan, the "guidance" effect of the official guide price of 1499 yuan has significantly weakened.

Behind this flow and price fluctuation, the roles of iMoutai and Feitian Moutai have been redefined.

The profound adjustments occurring among the triangular relationship of growth, price, and channels will also lead to a redistribution of interests in the near future.

Price Concessions and Centralizing Power

When the iMoutai app was first launched in 2022, it coincided with a rapid upward cycle in Moutai’s market.

In its launch year, the platform drove Moutai’s direct sales share up sharply from 22.7% in 2021 to 40%, making it a core lever for boosting direct sales proportion, increasing profits, and directly reaching end consumers.

In its early stage, it did not include the core product Feitian Moutai in the online direct sales system, a strategy interpreted by outsiders as a cautious stance of "not daring to touch the interests of distributors."

The situation saw a turning point in 2025.

As product wholesale prices across Moutai fell, channel premiums for most products on the iMoutai platform almost disappeared; some even exhibited inverted pricing, and the space for traditional subscription arbitrage shrank considerably.

In the third quarter, iMoutai's revenue was halved year-on-year, dragging overall self-operated channel sales down about 15%.

However, the fading of premiums actually weakened resistance to channel reform, forcing Moutai to promote deeper adjustments.

Behind the widespread attention triggered by 1499 yuan direct sales of Feitian Moutai, other products on the iMoutai platform have also undergone substantial price reductions.

For example, the retail price of the 1L Feitian Moutai dropped to 2989 yuan, a cut of over 21% compared to the guide price; boutique Moutai retail price is set at 2299 yuan, 1000 yuan lower than the market guide price.

Though the official guide price is gradually losing its market guiding function, Moutai’s actual control over terminal prices is being continuously strengthened through reinforcement of self-operated channels and direct-to-consumer pricing strategies.

For a long time, the factory price of Feitian was 1169 yuan, the official guide price 1499 yuan, and the market transaction price coexisted.

This “dual price system” created huge arbitrage opportunities, fueling scalpers and channel speculation, and piling up a massive and hard-to-digest social inventory.

With the market recycling price now down to around 1450 yuan, nearly 50 yuan lower than the official retail price, previous price differential arbitrage models are losing their appeal.

At the same time, the official 1499 yuan direct sale of genuine Feitian has weakened the effectiveness of third parties using "low-priced Moutai" for traffic. After all, if you're using Feitian to garner attention, why not direct it to your own traffic pool?

The core of all these moves is to gradually reclaim channel dominance and profit distribution rights.

To this end, Moutai also adopted phased channel appeasement and coordination strategies: for instance, the 2025 Feitian Moutai is not yet listed, giving distributors a window to digest inventory; and non-standard product distribution allocations have been canceled to ease channel funding and sales pressure.

Organizational restructuring is also underway.

On the day iMoutai listed Feitian, Moutai Group officially established "Ai Moutai Digital Technology Co., Ltd." with registered capital of 600 million yuan, with Wang Xiaopeng, head of the Group’s Digital and Information Management Department, as chairman, and Wang Hualin, deputy general manager of Moutai Sales Co., Ltd., as general manager.

On the first working day of 2026, Chairman Chen Hua appeared in Guiyang to inspect Moutai’s logistics park and SF Express warehousing center, conducting a field survey of iMoutai’s logistics fulfillment and supply chain capabilities.

These actions are seen as signals that Moutai is elevating digital direct sales to the height of group strategy.

Xiao Zhuqing, chairman of Wuhan Jingkui Technology Co., Ltd., believes the new e-commerce company, being independent from the sales company, is likely to directly connect to the group’s e-commerce resources, use algorithms and big data for "cloud quota allocation," achieving "same region, same product, same price."

He noted that the currently operating iMoutai is only a part of the digital tech company, and that future Guizhou Moutai has promising prospects for private domain e-commerce and digital marketing.

The Weight of the Cycle

"Behind the goal of Moutai’s market reforms, growth has always been the driver," Wang Xuewei, partner at Siyuan Hengyue and longtime observer of the liquor industry, told Xinfeng.

In Q3 2025, Moutai’s revenue and profit growth narrowed sharply to less than 1%, hitting a quarterly ten-year low.

This data is already the result after loosening payment policies.

To support channel liquidity, since October Moutai has allowed distributors of non-Feitian Moutai series products to settle with electronic bank bills.

Wang Xuewei believes that Feitian, as the most recognized and influential big product, must naturally bear the major responsibility for supporting growth when sales of higher-margin non-standard products come under pressure.

Official statements from Moutai also confirm this: in the new pyramid system, the 500ml Feitian Moutai is defined as the "base," intended to consolidate the basic market of mass high-end consumption.

The price differential mechanism provides operational flexibility for this growth path.

There is a 330 yuan price spread between the 1499 yuan retail price and the 1169 yuan factory price for distributor Feitian Moutai.

The market speculates that if Moutai reallocates previously "bundled" quotas for non-standard products to direct channels like iMoutai, it would indirectly raise the factory price and boost revenue.

But Feitian is not only the growth pillar for the distillery but also the long-term core profit source for distribution channels.

This creates a contradiction: if iMoutai continues to release large volumes, Feitian Moutai will become widely available, inevitably suppressing or even breaking other channel price systems; conversely, if strict volume control is used to maintain a sense of scarcity, the growth target will be difficult to achieve.

On January 4, the 2025 Feitian Moutai wholesale price briefly fell below the market guide price of 1499 yuan.

But feedback from social platforms indicates that for now, only a minority of users have successfully subscribed for Feitian Moutai via iMoutai; most are still faced with the quickly grayed-out "sold out" screen.

The future "volume" released on iMoutai will be the key variable validating this speculation. And the "price" change induced by "volume" change will directly determine Moutai's market perception and strategic space in the coming stages.

As investment attributes have gradually faded, iMoutai has indeed attracted new customers valuing authenticity and convenience, opening new avenues for market access.

But in Wang Xuewei’s view, "It's still hard to judge whether this move will truly bring in new customers, or whether brand value volatility will cause the original customer base to split."

Demand remains the core challenge facing Moutai and the entire liquor industry.

Wang Xuewei told Xinfeng that according to channel survey data, market demand contracted by another 20%-30% in Q4 2025, while factory shipments declined less, and channel inventory continues to rise.

Under the twin challenges of a pressured consumer environment and aging of traditional customer structures, the responsibility to maintain the base market and explore new ones will still fall on distributors.

Some distributors admitted to Xinfeng that while iMoutai may carry more weight in future Moutai channels, core consumption scenarios such as group purchases and banquets still largely rely on distributors’ personal networks and customized services.

As a leading enterprise in the liquor industry, Moutai doesn’t need a weakened traditional channel, but a more efficient, more coordinated, and more consumer-centric new channel network.

Moutai has spelled out a multi-dimensional coordination framework built around "direct sales, distribution, consignment, and brokerage," and has formally introduced consignment and brokerage models outside the traditional specialty store and iMoutai direct-operated channels.

The recently launched Zodiac Moutai "Horse Moutai" marked the first implementation of the industry-focused consignment model.

Xiao Zhuqing told Xinfeng that under the consignment model, product ownership remains with the manufacturer, and distributors simply pay a certain security deposit and earn commissions at stepped rates according to actual sales—more sales, more earnings.

This approach, while shifting inventory and capital risk onto the manufacturer, also strengthens Moutai’s control over product movement and terminal prices.

Taken with Moutai’s "price marketization" strategy, when industry sentiment picks up in future, a channel-dominant Moutai might take in more apparent premium profits.

Meanwhile, the iMoutai platform now lists Feitian Moutai from years 2019 to 2024, with prices ranging from 1909 yuan to 2649 yuan—the older the bottle, the higher the price, mostly above third-party channel quotes.

This reflects Moutai’s conscious cultivation and maintenance of "old wine" as a collectible within its value system.

In a moment of change, Feitian Moutai’s price fluctuations are essentially a preview of the future interest structure.

It is more like a needle, pointing to where this giant might find its balance among growth demand, price control, and channel revolution.

Risk Warning and Disclaimer ClauseThe market contains risks, and investments must be made cautiously. This article does not constitute personal investment advice nor takes into account the special investment goals, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions herein are appropriate to their specific situation. Investment based on this is at your own risk.