A production chain of Bia Saigon Special in Sài Gòn Củ Chi brewery. — Photo courtesy of the brewer

HCM CITY — The Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Joint Stock Corporation (Sabeco) recently expanded the brewing capacity of its existing ecosystem of breweries.

As for the expansion, the brewer will increase its capacity at the Sài Gòn Củ Chi, Quảng Ngãi and Sóc Trăng breweries in the upcoming months. 

The investment project includes upgrading and expanding the existing infrastructure at the current breweries as well as installing new equipment. This will establish an integrated management system, which will enhance automated production, reduce energy consumption and support efficient manufacturing management.

The auxiliary facilities such as waste and wastewater treatment systems will be updated to respond to the expanded production capacity and demands. 

Bennett Neo, general director of Sabeco said: “To maintain our leading position in Việt Nam, Sabeco will continue to develop our infrastructure and expand our brewing capacity so that we can improve business efficiency and meet the growing market demand.”

Sabeco did not yet disclose the detailed plan of the expansion.  

Earlier, Sài Gòn - Quảng Ngãi Brewery, a unit of Sabeco planned to spend VNĐ535 billion (US$23 million) to boost the plant in Quảng Ngãi to the capacity of 250 million litres per year.

After purchasing Sabeco's share from the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2017, Thai giant conglomerate ThaiBev holds 53 per cent of the brewer’s capital. Currently, Sabeco holds 40 per cent of the domestic market share. In the nine-month period, Sabeco sold 4.4 billion litres of beer in the market. Thaibev plans to raise the market share to 45 per cent and the ratio would be higher in 2021.

According to Euromonitor International, a market research firm, Việt Nam is the third largest beer consuming country in Asia, after China and Japan. Beer sales in Việt Nam have increased by 6.6 per cent for six consecutive years, far exceeding the global increase of 0.2 per cent. Beer accounts for 95 per cent of total alcohol consumption in the country. — VNS