The purpose of this thesis was to study the culture and trends in the cocktail and whiskey bar industry of Shanghai. The thesis seeks to form an understanding about the attitudes of customers and bar professionals towards distilled spirits and find out what spirits are the most popular in the cocktail bars of Shanghai. The ultimate purpose is to evaluate Shanghai as a potential market for spirit manufacturers. This research was done in collaboration with the Finnish craft distillery Kyrö Distillery Company.
The thesis was made by qualitatively interviewing bar managers and quantitatively studying cocktail bar reviews in online magazines and blogs of Shanghai. Eight interviews were conducted on location in Shanghai. The theory consisted of studying customer behaviour in general and defining the current state of the Chinese spirits industry.
The results indicated that Shanghai has a diversifying and growing cocktail bar industry catering to both locals and foreigners. The cocktail bar represents a premium and alternative lifestyle distinct from traditional Chinese past-times. Drinks in these establishments are based completely on Western and some Japanese spirits mainly whiskies, gins, and rums served in cocktails or by themselves. Baijiu which is traditionally favoured by the local customers is almost non-existent in the cocktail bars of Shanghai.
Despite a rapid growth in popularity, the drinks and the concept of the Western styled cocktail bar and spirits are not very well understood by most of the local customers. Therefore, the right kind of education and promotion will define how new products are received in Shanghai. The newly rich local customers are interested in foreign spirits and cocktail bars because of their premium status, diverse tastes, the experience of foreign culture and the association with a trendy lifestyle. Larger trends such as the rise of social media, the spending power of women, and health consciousness also play a role. Considering these factors with choosing and marketing products for the Shanghainese market will define how distilled spirits are received in Shanghai
