The Sichuan Province is known as the hometown of the Chinese hard liquor, Baijiu. Located in southern Sichuan in the city of Luzhou, it has enjoyed its reputation as “the city of spirits” with a history of a thousand years since the Qin and Han dynasties. Luzhou Laojiao also created the “36 Ancient Workshops” in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
※ Inheritance
With the saying “a liquor brand shares its name with a city, a liquor brand makes a prosperous city”, Luzhou Laojiao is the origin of the strong and aromatic Baijiu. Its brewing technique comes from 23 generations of inheritance that began with Huaiyu Guo’s innovation in the Yuan dynasty which was regulated by Chengzong Shu in the Ming dynasty. 1959 saw the publication of the first ever Hard Liquor Brewing Textbook “Luzhou Laojiao Daqu Liquor”, which stated that Luzhou Laojiao had become the benchmark in Baijiu. Baijiu scholar, Mr. Henggang Zhou, even wrote the book “Authentic Flavor” as a gift.
※ Honor
In 1915, Luzhou Laojiao went abroad for the first time and won the Gold Award in the Panama Pacific International Exposition. In 1952, it was chosen by the judges of the National Tasting Competition as the winner of the “National Famous Baijiu” for five consecutive times in a row. They also own cultural heritages known as “Double Treasures”, making it the industrial pioneer of the Chinese Baijiu culture. The Cellars of Guao Jiao were founded in 1573 and were decreed by the State Council as the first ever Cultural Relic of National Importance under the Protection of the State. In November 1996, the 1619 cellars of Luzhou Laojiao were continuously used for over 100 years, together with the 16 Ancient Brewing Workshops and three natural cellar holes. They were all chosen to be in the National Cultural Heritage Conservation Board in March 2013. Owning “Living Relics for Brewing” which had the biggest balance with numerous varieties, Luzhou Laojiao itself became a living miracle of the Chinese Baijiu industry. In both 2006 and 2012, Luzhou Laojiao was chosen to be in the preliminary list of China for World Heritage. Besides the traditional brewing techniques, Luzhou Laojiao was chosen to be in the first batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage in May 2006. Thus, Luzhou Laojiao became the first enterprise who owned the “Double National Treasures” in the Chinese liquor industry.
※ Quality
The excellent quality of Luzhou Laojiao origins from persistence.
Committed to advocate healthy lifestyle and to “make the quality visible”, Luzhou Laojiao has long been working on the brewing of organic liquor. The first “Organic Sorghum Planting Base” was established and the six-factor management system (which included organic, quality, safety, environment, measurement and energy)
was built and improved, making liquor traceable from fields to tables. Eight research platforms were established which included the National Engineering Research Center of Solid-State Brewing, National Liquor Test Center, National Postdoctoral Workstation, etc, were all in support of the innovation and upgrading of their products with strong technical skills. Many accrediting bodies like such as tasting committees, brewing technology experts and consumer tasters were invited as key institutions and by working together, assured the perfect quality of every bottle.
※ Brand
To implement “Double Brand, Multi-Operation”strategy, Luzhou Laojiao had built a pyramidal brand structure of five strategic brands：National Pits 1573 which was a high end brand, Bainian Luzhou Laojiao Jiaoling Tequ Laojiao which targeted the business and banquet market and Touqu Laojiao and Erqu Laojiao which targeted the mass market. Regiment liquor and alcopop were newly developed and was to be introduced into the liquor market.
※ Talents
Liquor mogul Hanzhang Qin said “Luzhou Laojiao represents the highest level of the Chinese brewing industry.” To carry out the concept “talent is capital, accomplishments win positions”, Luzhou Laojiao continued to train technical, marketing and managerial personnel. In addition, talent bases like “Luzhou Laojiao Postdoctoral Workstation” and “Luzhou Laojiao Business School” were established to cultivate top talents and create a stronghold of talents. These projects has cultivated 3 inheritors for the National Intangible Cultural Heritage, 3 Masters of Chinese Brewing, 2 masters of Baijiu, 6 senior engineers, 8 experts who receiving special allowance from the State Council, 3 academic and technologic leaders of the Sichuan province, 15 postdoctors, hundreds of highly skilled personnel including process masters of Chinese liquor, tasters, national liquor judges, senior brewing technicians and brewing technicians.
※ Vision
“Liquor brewed with the universe, spirit generated by the world” is taken as philosophy of Luzhou Laojiao. Adhering to the concept “brew whole heartedly, dedicate without reserve”, Luzhou Laojiao respects devotion, innovation and excellence, making it in the top flight of market share, management, brand culture, quality and human resources. Determined to brew the best Baijiu and to provide the best service, Luzhou Laojiao is on its way to be a giant in the world liquor industry. It is a globalized modern enterprise in the pursuit of sharing the happiness with everyone in the cultural unification of the Chinese world-famous liquor culture.