Heineken to expand its biggest Southeast Asia brewery in southern Vietnam

Heineken Vietnam will invest an additional $142 million in its brewery in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province to expand the plant's capacity from 11 million hectoliters (hl) to 16 million.

The company and provincial authorities signed a memorandum of understanding for the expansion at a Sunday conference on investment for the southeastern region chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

The Dutch corporation will carry out the expansion in 2023-2025, raising its total investment in the brewery to $500 million.

Alexander Koch, CEO of Heineken Vietnam, said the investment would make the 130,000-can-per-hour plant one of the best productive among Heineken factories in the world, running completely on renewable energy and improving its water usage.

Earlier on September 24, Heineken Vietnam inaugurated its expanded brewery in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, saying it was the biggest in Southeast Asia and used 100% renewable energy.

Beer consumption in Vietnam reached 39 million hl (a unit of measurement equal to 100 liters) in 2021, down 0.4% year-on-year, according to brokerage house MB Securities. It attributed the slight fall to Covid-19 precautions and the imposition of high penalties for drunk driving under a decree issued in 2020.

According to a November report by the General Statistics Office, beer production in Vietnam reached 55.3 million hl in the first 11 months of this year, up 34.9% year-on-year, topping the country’s industrial production growth.