Vietnam beer market to increase 15pct this year

Domestic beer producers will churn 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 Saigon Alcohol, Beer and Beverage Corporation (Sabeco).

Sabeco, which currently accounts for roughly 35 percent of domestic market share, also anticipated that the consumption of beer in the domestic market would see a growth rate of roughly 15 percent 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 percent to 45 percent, The tax on draught beer, meanwhile, would increase to 45 percent from the current 40 percent.

“This will be a chance for high-quality beer products made by foreign beer producers to enlarge their market share,” Sabeco said. Currently, local beer producers mainly concentrate on the draught beer market.

Vietnam 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, Vietnam is Asia’s third-largest beer market after China and Japan.

The domestic beer market has an annual growth rate of between 9 percent and 11 percent and is witnessing strong competition among many well-known brands, including Sai Gon, Hanoi, Tiger and Heineken. Vietnam has more than 300 beer and alcohol production facilities, with key producers including Sabeco and Vietnam Brewery Limited Co.

Sabeco alone this year has planed 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. – Vietnam+

Tags: Vietnam beer market

Posted by VBN on Jan 27 2011. Filed under Food & Beverage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry