HCM CITY - Despite being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, SABECO has always been consistent with its commitment to promote sustainable values and contribute to the prosperity and development of Việt Nam and its people.

Last month, Bia Saigon, the leading brand of Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (SABECO), and the Communist Youth Union launched the “Tết - One Home” campaign to help young people, students, and workers in difficult circumstances to return home to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

The initiative has supported thousands of people in their dream of reuniting with their families during the holiday. This is the most important traditional holiday for most Vietnamese people.

The programme will provide 270 flight tickets, 1,530 coach tickets, and 200 train tickets for around 2,000 workers and university students in Hà Nội, Bắc Ninh, Bắc Giang, HCM City, Bình Dương and Đồng Nai to help them return to their hometowns for Lunar New Year.

HELMING THE SHIP: Bennett Neo, general director of SABECO, at the launch ceremony of the “Tết - One Home” campaign.

 The programme will also distribute gifts to 800 struggling students, workers, youth union members, and frontline volunteers in Hòa Bình, Hà Nội, Quảng Ninh, and HCM City, who wish to remain in these localities to celebrate.

With the motto “Stronger Together,” the annual activity has helped tighten the spirit of solidarity for a prosperous Việt Nam.

Bennett Neo, general director of SABECO, said: “Like other companies, we have also been affected by the pandemic. But as a company with a longstanding history in Việt Nam, SABECO is aware of its role and responsibility as a good corporate citizen and, as such, is willing to join the tremendous and ceaseless efforts to combat the pandemic and its implications.”

INDUSTRY LEADERS:  A SABECO representative receives the award for Việt Nam’s 50 Best-performing Companies.   Photoos courtesy of SABECO

 For the past three years, the country’s largest brewer has organised various initiatives to support struggling workers to return home for the Lunar New Year. In 2022, SABECO will co-operate with the Communist Youth Union to extend the initiative and render it more accessible.

Although the pandemic has poured pressure on the economy in general and the beer industry in particular, Neo insisted that it was still able to help others through various activities, such as its Community Care and Collecting Million Stars programmes.

Within these two activities, SABECO donated ventilators, medical masks, and other supplies to frontliners in various provinces and cities across the country, as well as supplied around 5,000 families with essential goods and about 600 food and beverage outlets with cash donations.

According to analytics platform SocialHeat by YouNet, SABECO’s CSR activities reached thousands of consumers, with its Collecting Million Stars campaign ranking second among the most discussed CSR campaigns in September alone.

Contributing to resilience

Since mid-2018, the brewer has repositioned its brand and restructured its business, to build the company into a globally competitive enterprise that Vietnamese people can be proud of. It has built a sustainable development model of 4C commitment – Consumption, Conservation, Country, and Culture.

SABECO believes that the success of each employee is a brick to build the overall success of the enterprise and the country.

The general director said that the firm has yet to lay off any employees and reduce salaries during the pandemic. The company has not only covered all additional human resource expenses but also offered additional bonuses to employees.

“Hit by the pandemic, most businesses and employees were struggling with various difficulties. At SABECO, the biggest challenge was to ensure the health and safety of employees, while the second biggest was to maintain jobs and income for all of them,” he added.

Revenues of SABECO have been hit during the pandemic outbreak. Instead of supporting its subsidiaries only, the brewer has tried to distribute production output to all subsidiaries and affiliates in which it holds 10-20 per cent of shares. It aims to ensure revenues, jobs, and incomes of employees. It has been carefully monitoring cash flow, even extending payments for people to survive amid the difficult time.

“Another challenge has been to help the people around us to leave no one behind. We have not only been contributing to the economy but also benefiting from it. So we should help the community too,” he said.

In addition, the group has launched a backup plan to minimise supply chain disruptions and maintain production activities. It prioritises buying goods and materials from its partners to support them during challenging times.

Meanwhile, the company has also maintained stable prices for customers despite rising expenses and costs. Thanks to SABECO’s business continuity, its partners and customers in the same supply chain can keep their jobs during the pandemic.

Neo said: “2021 has been a difficult and challenging year for Việt Nam, for businesses, and people of all walks of life. However, these moments of hardship have reignited the willpower and spirit of unity of the Vietnamese people.”

SABECO also kept close connections with customers during the social distancing period. The company has launched several activities to increase brand awareness and consumer demand. Meanwhile, SABECO strives to eliminate shopping barriers for customers in the off-trade channel by selling its products on online platforms and building its brand on e-commerce platforms.

Moreover, the market is displaying exceptionally positive signs and customers are becoming increasingly fond of SABECO products.

SABECO established a network of breweries and warehouses at strategic locations, including a total of 26 strategically located breweries across Việt Nam and more than 60 warehouses.

With a variety of factories as well as warehouses, SABECO can mitigate the risks of supply chain disruption from the pandemic. SABECO 4.0 is a digitisation campaign implemented since 2020, aiming to simplify standardisation and centralisation through this campaign, covering sales, human resources, and purchases, as well as logistics, transportation tracking systems, warehouse management and transportation management.

The continuous efforts have brought fruitful achievements to SABECO despite facing pressure from the pandemic. SABECO has achieved many prestigious awards both inside and outside the country, recognising its efforts and contribution to the country.

SABECO on Monday was honoured in the “Việt Nam’s 50 Best-performing Companies” (TOP50). This is an annual prestige ranking developed by Nhịp cầu đầu tư Magazine in tandem with Thiên Việt Securities to honour the most effective companies on Việt Nam stock exchange. The ranking process took counsel from many economists and business experts who were Harvard Business School graduates.

To objectively assess the management capacity of enterprises, TOP50 evaluates businesses’ results of three consecutive fiscal years, based on three indicators: revenue, return on equity (ROE) and earnings per share (EPS).

TOP50 2021 will specially honour companies bigger in size, greater in market value and robust growth rate, who are worth to be the country’s pride.

SABECO was one of businesses in the TOP50’s billion-US dollar club with average ROE of 26.6 per cent in three year period from 2018-20.

Earlier, the company also took 7th position in the ranking of Top 50 most valuable brands in Việt Nam (Vietnam 50) in 2021, with a valuation of more than US$1 billion.

The information was announced by the world's leading brand valuation company Brand Finance in mid-December.

This is the 6th consecutive year SABECO has been listed in this Brand Finance’s ranking. The SABECO brand valuation has featured in 8 brand rankings, including the biggest Beers brands and the best Việt Nam brands.

The pandemic has caused major disruptions to the business sector. However, SABECO leaders have set out a vision with flexible policies to overcome the challenging times. As the country’s leading beverage business, SABECO has remained strong and continued with the mission of recovering the economy fully as soon as possible. VNS