HÀ NỘI Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (SABECO) was honoured with a series of awards at the 2021 Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA), bringing pride to Việt Nam thanks to its continuous efforts and long-term strategy of introducing the Vietnamese beer brand to the world.

With a gold medal for Bia Saigon Gold, two silver medals for Bia Saigon Chill and Bia Saigon Lager, SABECO had a landslide win at the largest annual beer competition in the world assessing both draught and packaged beer. The competition pays tribute to the best breweries in the world. In 2021, there were 2,500 well-qualified nominees from 400 breweries, across 21 countries around the world. More than 75 judges tasted beer products in this competition.

Applying new technology, brewing excellence by generations of master brewers in Vietnam and fermentation create high-quality products with typical Vietnamese flavours. Photo courtesy of SABECO

Bia Saigon Gold which was recently relaunched in late 2020, won the Gold Medal in the Best Australian Style Lager category at its first-ever entry. Bia Saigon Chill - the new premium brand launched last October, deservingly won the Silver Medal in the category of Best International Lager. Meanwhile, Bia Saigon Lager once again demonstrated its exceptional quality through the Silver Medal in the category of Best International Lager.

Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV) CEO Brad Jenkins said: “As the world’s largest annual beer competition judging both draught and packaged beer, the Australian International Beer Awards conducted by RASV is the pinnacle benchmarking opportunity for brewers from Australia and abroad.”

A combination of new technology and hundreds of years of experience

Since 2018, SABECO has entered a new phase and kept relentlessly transforming itself with positive changes to ensure a leading  position not only in the domestic market but also internationally. SABECO has invested significantly in brands and its image with a more modern and youthful new identity.

With a gold medal for Bia Saigon Gold, SABECO had a landslide win at the largest annual beer competition in the world. Photo courtesy of SABECO

In addition, SABECO has also researched and launched products targeting the growing middle class. Changing the brand identity, but the “quintessential” Vietnamese flavour and Vietnamese beer still retains the original recipe. 145 years of Saigon Beer flavour remains intact in the hearts of consumers.

In order to bring consumers the most delicious and quality draft beer products, SABECO has constantly invested in Production Management System, Warehouse Management System and Transportation Management System (a part of SABECO 4.0 Project)to keep the fresh taste of each product. The closed and highly automated production process of the SABECO factory is closely monitored and managed by a team of engineers and more than 50 Brew Masters trained in Germany and the US.

Applying new technology, brewing excellence by generations of master brewers in Vietnam throughout its long-standing history of 145 years and fermentation create high-quality products with typical Vietnamese flavours. These improvements have brought continuous success to SABECO.

This is the reasons that this is not the first time the company has been honoured and recognised at international awards. In 2019, it won the gold medal for the International Smallpack Lager Competition, won the Class 1 (Lager 2.9-4.4 per cent ABV) category at the International Brewing Awards (IBA), and the gold medal in the German Heritage category at the International Beer Cup (IBC).

Vietnamese pride

Achieving high positions in the oldest and most prestigious awards in the beer industry is not only a memorable milestone for SABECO alone, but also a strong mark of the Vietnamese beer brand in the international market. Especially, the awards were achieved in the difficult context of the economy in general and SABECO in particular due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A production line of SABECO. Photo courtesy of SABECO

Sabeco's ambition is not only encapsulated in the market of 90 million people in Việt Nam. The brand was once rated as the Top 3 most valuable brands in Việt Nam. As the country is increasingly integrating deeply with the world with free trade agreements (FTAs) such as the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), national brands like Sabeco need to raise their value for integration.

Bennet Neo, General Director of SABECO, said: “SABECO takes pride in being the oldest brewery of Việt Nam. Our products are beloved by generations of Vietnamese consumers thanks to their fresh and original taste. We never cease researching and improving the quality of products and brand image, so as to promote the Vietnamese brand not only in the domestic market but also internationally. These excellent awards testify to the relentless efforts of SABECO to contribute to sustainable development and remain the pride of Việt Nam.”

These awards once again assert the reputation and superior quality of domestic Vietnamese brands in the international brewing industry. State-of-the-art production technology and a rich history in brewing by leading Vietnamese brew-masters are the key to these outstanding successes of SABECO in the international arena.

With 145 years of brewing history, SABECO has established itself as one of Việt Nam’s leading companies.SABECO has been on a journey of transformation to strengthen its operational capabilities and modernise its governance system over the past year, including its four pillars - Consumption, Conservation, Country, and Culture.

SABECO includes 26 breweries and 10 trading subsidiaries and has a distribution network consisting of 100,000 retailers nationwide. SABECO is proud to offer a brand portfolio that consists of some of the most well-loved beer brands in Việt Nam, including Bia 333, Bia Saigon Special, Bia Saigon Export, Bia Saigon Lager, Bia Saigon Chill, Bia Lạc Việt, and Bia Saigon Gold.

With a commitment to investing in business development along with sustainable development, SABECO is always striving to create positive changes to enhance the position of the Vietnamese brand, while promoting positive development for the community and Việt Nam.

The brand has its own vitality. In a modern and constantly developing economy, the larger the brand name of a country's product that dominates the international market, the stronger that country is. Especially when Việt Nam further participates in new-generation FTAs, branding becomes more meaningful and important.

Following its current marketing strategy, SABECO remains the beer of the Vietnamese people while also becoming a leading brand in the beer industry.