HEINEKEN Vietnam raised its ambition to sustainability amid a turbulent year

Ho Chi Minh City, 8 June 2022 – HEINEKEN Vietnam today launches its 2021 Sustainability Report. The 8^th edition of this annual publication showcases HEINEKEN Vietnam’s commitment to “Brewing a Better Vietnam” during the most challenging period in the company’s 30-year history. 

 

2021 Sustainability Report showcases HEINEKEN Vietnam’s commitment to “Brewing a Better Vietnam” during a challenging year

“I am proud that our people and business remained resilient during 2021 and that we stayed true to our value of caring for people and the planet. Even as we dealt with the unprecedented health and economic disruptions caused by COVID-19, HEINEKEN Vietnam not only remained committed to delivering our environmental, social and responsibility agenda of ‘Brewing a Better Vietnam’, we actually increased our ambitions to ‘Raise the Bar’ in order to realise HEINEKEN’s global sustainability ambitions towards 2030,” shares Alexander Koch, Managing Director HEINEKEN Vietnam.

During the pandemic, people stayed the top priority for HEINEKEN Vietnam. The company ensured the health, safety and well-being for its employees – including staff and salespeople working from home, and brewery technicians and workers staying 3-on-site to maintain supply and business continuity, as well as protected jobs and salaries.

 

HEINEKEN Vietnam offered Tet gifts to needy communities across the country, as part of the company’s communities efforts

HEINEKEN Vietnam also stood strong with the local communities in the fight against COVID-19, providing in-kind donations of medical equipment and contributing to vaccine funds, totalling almost 7 billion VND. To share the difficulties with our business partners, we offered agile financial schemes and ran campaigns to help the F&B industry get back on their feet; including “First Round on Us”, giving a complementary drink to consumers at 10,000 outlets across 33 cities and provinces, and “Call Out Your Favourite Outlet, Fuel Their Courage” - a social media campaign aiming at inviting people back to their favourite bars and restaurants safely. 

Throughout trying times, HEINEKEN Vietnam continued to innovate. We successfully launched three new products in Vietnam including (i) Tiger Platinum, a wheat lager with a hint of orange peel locally sourced from a farm in the Northern province of Nghe An; (ii) Strongbow apple cider Chilly Peach flavour, a variant exclusive for Vietnam, and (iii) Edelweiss, locally dubbed “Snow Beer”, brewed from the finest and purest ingredients from the Alps. 

As a responsible brewer in Vietnam, we endorsed drinking responsibly – in an engaging way to our audience. For example, our “Enjoy Heineken Responsibly” messaging reached 47 million people, while our collaboration with leading Vietnamese rap artist Justatee on a song promoting Heineken® 0.0 has gathered over 15 million views. 

All in all, 2021 saw HEINEKEN Vietnam make steady progress towards its 2025 Sustainability Ambition of 100% renewable energy, 100% water balanced and Zero waste to landfill. By the end of 2021, HEINEKEN Vietnam already successfully achieved zero waste to landfill across all 6 breweries, and beers were brewed with 52% renewable energy. On its 30^th Anniversary in Vietnam, the company also announced an investment of 30 billion VND to help restore Vietnam’s nature and preserve healthy watersheds in the long term. 

Key highlights from HEINEKEN Vietnam’s 2021 Sustainability Report include:

Path to Net Zero: 

• Zero waste to landfill across 6 breweries 
• Beers brewed with 52% renewable energy 
• Water efficiency at 2.65hl/hl, more efficient than the industry’s average 
• 30 billion VND invested into protecting healthy watersheds 

Path to Inclusive, Fair and Equitable World: 

• Contribution equivalent to 0.7 % Vietnam’s GDP
• 152,000 direct and indirect jobs supported throughout value chain 
• 36% women in senior management positions, 4% increase from 2020
• 11% women in sales, 16% women in supply chain - both traditionally male-dominated functions
• 8.93 billion VND contributed to COVID-19 support and Tet charity

Path to Moderation and no Harmful Use: 

• Average portfolio of 4.7% ABV 
• 47 million people reached through Enjoy Heineken® Responsibly campaign

These advancements contribute to the company’s efforts to realise its 2030 global ambition, including reaching Net Zero impact; building an inclusive, fair and equitable world; and facilitating moderation and no harmful consumption.

For our continued commitment and efforts, HEINEKEN Vietnam in 2021 was recognised as the #2 most sustainable company in Vietnam (in the manufacturing sector) by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). This is the sixth consecutive year the company has been honoured in the Top 3 of this ranking. 

The full report can be accessed from the company website: https://heineken-vietnam.com.vn/en/sustainability/

 

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For more information, please contact:

Ms. Nguyen Huong Mai
Head of Communications
Heineken Vietnam Brewery Limited Company
Email: mai.nguyenhuong@heineken.com

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About HEINEKEN Vietnam

HEINEKEN Vietnam is a successful joint venture between HEINEKEKEN and SATRA (Saigon Trading Group). The company has a proud history of over 30 years - growing from the first brewery in Ho Chi Minh City in 1991 to 6 nationwide with over 3,000 employees today. 

We take Vietnamese people on our growth journey in the country. We are currently creating 152,000 jobs across the value chain, contributing an equivalence of 0.7% of Vietnam’s total GDP to the local economy and are among the country’s top taxpayers.

As a relentlessly innovative company, we combine international expertise with the local know-how and talent; and have been delighting Vietnamese consumers with a wide product portfolio for a variety of local tastes and drinking occasions, including Heineken®, Tiger, Larue, BIVINA, Bia Viet, Strongbow and Edelweiss. Many of our beers are innovations made exclusively for Vietnam and by Vietnamese brew masters.

Sustainability and responsibility are the way we do business at HEINEKEN Vietnam. From day one, we have been committed to “Brewing a Better Vietnam”, and for 6 consecutive years 2016 – 2021, we have been recognized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) as one of the top 3 most sustainable companies in the manufacturing sector. Currently 52% of the energy powering our breweries is renewable and 100% of our waste and by products are reused and/or recycled. We are also passionate about advocating responsible consumption and addressing drink driving in Vietnam, and in 2020 introduced Heineken® 0.0 to support the Government’s efforts in this area. 

To know more about us, please visit http://heineken-vietnam.com.vn/