Raise the bar or Race to the bottom?

In an amazing moment of clarity, Lion Nathan has admitted the obvious.This article has all the usual blah, blah, blah of all things corporate but it appears that LN is experiencing a little of the old 'Once Bitten, Twice Shy'. LN went and bought the Chinese equivalent of Steele Reserve or maybe Drummond Bothers and lost their ass. Read the article if you feel so led, but it all comes down to this:

"There's a tendency still to think in terms of volume in our markets, particularly the beer markets, and not realize the clear underlying trend that's going on, that people clearly are drinking stable amounts but their expectations of quality are going up.

"They're prepared to pay more for higher quality beverage experiences and that creates value opportunities out of which we get growth."

Hold up! People want quality over quantity and they're willing to pay for it? I don't believe it. It's unbelievable. Uber-producers the world 'round, please take note.