Beer market to increase by 15% this year

Domestic beer producers will chum out roughly 2.7 billion litres of the drink this year to meet the rising demands of local consumers, according to an estimate by the Sai Gon Alcohol, Beer and Beverage Corporation (Sabeco).
Sabeco, which currently accounts for roughly 35 per cent of domestic market share, also anticipated that the consumption of beer in the domestic market would have a growth rate of roughly 15 per cent in 2010 and in the next few years.

However, it also warned that the next three years would be hard for domestic beer producers as special consumption tax on beers, excluding draught beer, would reduce from 75 per cent to 45 per cent. The tax on draught beer, meanwhile, would increase to 45 per cent from the current 40 per cent.

“This will be a chance for high-quality beer products churned out by foreign beer producers to enlarge their market share,” Sabeco said.

Currently, local beer producers mainly concentrate on the draught beer market.

Viet Nam has a lot of potential for beer producers as consumption in the country currently averages out at 14 litres per capita a year, much lower than around 40 litres in Indonesia and 160 litres in Germany, experts have said.

According to Japan’s Sapporo beer producer, Viet Nam is Asia’s third-largest beer market after China and Japan in a fast-growing market.
The domestic beer market has an annual growth rate of between 9 per cent and 11 per cent and is witnessing strong competition among many well-known brands, including Sai Gon, Ha Noi, Tiger and Heineken.Viet Nam has more than 300 beer and alcohol production facilities, with key producers including Sabeco and Viet Nam Brewery Limited Co.

Sabeco alone this year has targeted to produce 1 billion litres of beer, compared with last year’s 907 million litres of which 900,000 litres will be for export.

Some foreign beer brands like Budweiser, Kronenbourg, SABMiller and Bitburger have also entered the local market.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Tags: Vietnam beer market