hectolitres of water per hectolitres of beer
Water circularity:
All 6 breweries have Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) that that meet and surpass local regulatory requirements
HEINEKEN Vietnam turned 30 in 2021, the year many believe will go down in history as one of the most challenging for Vietnam in recent years. We faced the most severe COVID-19 waves, and social distancing and stringent measures across the country saw life almost at a complete standstill. As a company who pre-covid could contribute nearly 1% to Vietnam’s GDP and provide over 200k direct and indirect jobs, our economic contribution through the value chain last year fell back to 2016-17 levels - highlighting the need that the hospitality sector has for supported recovery measures. Against all odds, HEINEKEN Vietnam remains committed to our sustainability agenda of “Brewing a Better Vietnam” - a goal we have been pursuing since our day one in Vietnam 30 years ago.
READ MORE +Caring for people stayed our number one priority during such a disruptive year. This is rooted in our firm belief that we can only thrive if the people around us - our employees, business partners, consumers, and communities, thrive. In the past year, none of our employees had their base pay cut or their job loss because of COVID-19. We did our utmost to take care of our people’s physical and mental wellbeing, from office staff or salespeople working from home to brewery technicians and workers staying 3-on-site to ensure supply and business continuity.
While faced with challenges ourselves, we stood strong with Vietnam in the fight against COVID-19, providing in-kind donations of medical equipment to help treat COVID-19 patients and supporting vaccine funding. We also shared the hardship of the ‘reopening’ with some 10,000 outlets, through our ‘First Round on Us’ and ‘Call Out Your Favourite Outlet, Fuel Their Courage’ campaigns to encourage consumers back to the bars safely.
And despite the headwinds, or to a greater or lesser extent, thanks to them - we continued to be resilient and innovative. Amid COVID-19 in 2021, we successfully launched three new products in Vietnam. We brought to the market a new Tiger - Tiger Platinum, a wheat lager with a hint of orange peel at 4.5% ABV. The oranges were locally sourced from a farm in Nghe An province, demonstrating our commitment to supporting local suppliers. Tiger Platinum was co-brewed and co-created by a new generation of consumers. Strongbow - our apple cider brand - had its latest variant Chilly Peach flavour hit the shelf. The flavour was created in Vietnam, exclusively for the Vietnamese market. And just in time for 2021’s year-end festive season, we introduced the wheat beer Edelweiss to Vietnamese consumers, locally known as “Snow Beer”.
As a leading brewer in Vietnam, we understand our role in encouraging and raising awareness for responsible consumption, and the necessity of doing so in a fun and relevant way. We collaborated with leading Vietnamese rap artist Justatee on a fun song, “Dân chơi sớm” (“The early players”), promoting our zero-alcohol Heineken® 0.0, across various music-streaming platforms. The video on YouTube was well received with over 15 million views.
Relentless innovation drives us forward, but our growth is strongly grounded in sustainability. In 2021, HEINEKEN Vietnam made further progress towards our 2025 Sustainability Ambition of 100% renewable energy, 100% water balanced
and zero waste to landfill. At the end of 2021, we have already achieved zero waste to landfill across our six breweries in Vietnam and are well on track towards the other targets. Our beers are currently brewed with 52% renewable energy and we are active to help evolve the policies and practicalities in Vietnam to be able to increase this in the future. Externally, HEINEKEN Vietnam was recognised as the #2 most sustainable company in Vietnam (in the manufacturing sector) by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This is the sixth consecutive year our company has been honoured in the Top 3 of this ranking.
Our 30th birthday in 2021 was made even more special with award-winning moments when HEINEKEN Vietnam was named Marketer of the year and our flagship brand Heineken® was awarded as Brand of the Year by the Mobile Marketing Association Vietnam. To celebrate our anniversary, we have committed VND 30 billion towards restoring Vietnam’s natural environment - through reforestation and the restoration of wetlands. This plan will be contributing to our ambitious goal of being 100% water balanced by 2025.
In 2022, while challenges are still ahead of us, we will continue our effort towards “Brewing a Better Vietnam”, daring ourselves to “Raise the Bar” and help realise HEINEKEN’s global ambitions for sustainability towards 2030. We believe only by keeping sustainability and responsibility as the compass guiding all our decisions, we will continue to grow together with Vietnam and the Vietnamese people and inspire a better world.
Donated 6.7 billion in cash, medical supplies and living essentials for COVID-19 relief
Ensured job security: Zero salary cuts or job losses for employees
Offer restaurants complimatary beers for take home food combos during lockdowns
Offer flexible credit policies and agile incentive schemes
First Round on Us: Through this campaign, all outlet visitors received a complimentary beer across 33 provinces.
Call Out Your Favorite Outlet, Fuel Their Courage: After sharing pictures taken at participating outlets on their Facebook or Zalo page(s), consumers received 2 complimentary Tiger® beers to drink in-bars. 18,468 Facebook posts were shared and 196,656 Tiger® beers were distributed.
By end 2021, 91% of beer allocated to our business partner support efforts was successfully redeemed and consumers could continue to enjoy a beer together even after the first round!
5 breweries using
100% thermal energy
for brewing process
98,5% of plastic crates reused for 5-10 years before recycling
97% of beer bottles reused >30 times before recycling
100% recycled paper beer cartons that help save 6,480 trees yearly
Upcycled brewer’s grains and sludge from wastewater treatment plant into bricks, animal feed or compost for crops
Implementation of low emission fridges
Logistics optimization saving 4.3 tonnes of CO2
Optimize the water & energy use efficiency in breweries
More efficient trucks and shift to lithium forklift truck in logistics saving 1.4 tonnes CO2
Built a ‘coffee container’ hangout spot with upcycled end-of-life materials accumulated at Da Nang brewery
hectolitres of water per hectolitres of beer
Water circularity:
All 6 breweries have Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) that that meet and surpass local regulatory requirements
1 Minute Less for Million Smiles community program: 26 water stations providing 271.000m3
clean water yearly, benefitting 15,000 individuals
5 breweries using
100% thermal energy
for brewing process
98,5% of plastic crates reused for 5-10 years before recycling
97% of beer bottles reused >30 times before recycling
100% recycled paper beer cartons that help save 6,480 trees yearly
Upcycled brewer’s grains and sludge from wastewater treatment plant into bricks, animal feed or compost for crops
Implementation of low emission fridges
Logistics optimization saving 4.3 tonnes of CO2
Optimize the water & energy use efficiency in breweries
More efficient trucks and shift to lithium forklift truck in logistics saving 1.4 tonnes CO2
Built a ‘coffee container’ hangout spot with upcycled end-of-life materials accumulated at Da Nang brewery
hectolitres of water per hectolitres of beer
Water circularity:
All 6 breweries have Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) that that meet and surpass local regulatory requirements
1 Minute Less for Million Smiles community program: 26 water stations providing 271.000m3
clean water yearly, benefitting 15,000 individuals
44% of Management Team made up of regional APAC nationals
36% women in senior management positions
200 people managers trained through inclusive leadership program
53 Inclusion & Diversity ambassadors nurtured through various workshops
Annual climate survey:
94% of staff proud to work for HEINEKEN Vietnam
92% employee engagement
100% compliance to global equal pay and fair wages principles
70% of open positions filled internally
58,643 training hours
0 work-related fatalities
VND 8.93B (cash and in - kind) contributed to communities for Annual Tet charity event and COVID-19
Over 4,046 needy households accross 31 cities & provinces benefited through “Wishes of Bia Viet Tet Fulfilment” event
85% of inputs purchased from local suppliers in Vietnam
GDP contribution through value chain 0.7%
Jobs supported through value chain152k jobs
44% of Management Team made up of regional APAC nationals
36% women in senior management positions
200 people managers trained through inclusive leadership program
53 Inclusion & Diversity ambassadors nurtured through various workshops
Annual climate survey:
94% of staff proud to work for HEINEKEN Vietnam
92% employee engagement
100% compliance to global equal pay and fair wages principles
70% of open positions filled internally
58,643 training hours
0 work-related fatalities
VND 8.93B (cash and in - kind) contributed to communities for Annual Tet charity event and COVID-19
Over 4,046 needy households accross 31 cities & provinces benefited through “Wishes of Bia Viet Tet Fulfilment” event
85% of inputs purchased from local suppliers in Vietnam
GDP contribution through value chain 0.7%
Jobs supported through value chain152k jobs
available in Vietnam
4.7% ABVaverage portfolio
Enjoy Heineken® Responsibly campaigns
EUR 139.5thousand invested
47 millionconsumers reached
85 millionviews through digital channels such as Facebook and Instagram
available in Vietnam
4.7% ABVaverage portfolio
Enjoy Heineken® Responsibly campaigns
EUR 139.5thousand invested
47 millionconsumers reached
85 millionviews through digital channels such as Facebook and Instagram
people educated
water depoluted
Ongoing since 2019, we have organized events such as training with local farmers to educate them on domestic circularity and water conservation. We also handed over equipment such as 99 tanks for pesticide containers and close to 600 trash cans for proper waste disposal
1,260 people were educated through these efforts, and water pollution from toxic chemicals and husbandry pollution has reduced by around 5,600,000m3 (2,240 Olympic-sized swimming pools) and 2,170m3 respectively. In fact, the yearly use of water to wash husbandry cages has reduced by 317.5m3. Similarly, there has been a reduction in the annual amount of domestic waste (1,000 tons) and poisonous pesticides/herbicides containers (3 tons).
HEINEKEN Vietnam’s ambition is to increase gender diversity, women leadership and empower the female community. To make this leap, the Brew Diversity team developed key actions to break paradigms. They include building awareness with a Web series, hiding name and gender in CV screenings and establishing new HR policies to support women in life transitions
As a result of the all-rounded support, we saw an increase of 4% in women in senior leadership positions from 2020.
Thank you, HEINEKEN Vietnam, for not only giving us a fruitful business but also letting us have an opportunity to bring values to Vietnam
Ms Nguyen Thi Le Na,
owner of the local farm.
HEINEKEN Vietnam joined hands with Vietnamese Gen Z consumers in 2021 to co-create Tiger Platinum, an orange-flavoured beer made with 100% locally-sourced oranges.
The refreshing wheat lager is made with orange peel sourced from a local farm in Nghe An Province. Standing firm to our long-standing commitment to support local suppliers, the innovation has resulted in 12 tons of oranges purchased. While these oranges are not qualified for edibility, their peels are of high quality in terms of flavour, thickness and high oil levels. Many oranges are thus used instead of being thrown away as waste.
Abiding to the COVID-19 regulations, working from home has increased the number of back-to-back meetings and caused fatigue. No-meeting Friday afternoons were implemented to aid efficient collaboration and block time for focused work
HEINEKEN Vietnam continued 0.0 sharing about the zero-alcohol beverage with our local consumers throughout 2021. The highlight of our promotions was a fun collaboration with Vietnamese rap artist Justatee on a song, “Dân chơi sớm” (“People Play Early”). Released in Nov 2021 across various music-streaming platforms, the song shared about how 0.0 can be drank anywhere, and it can be ‘as fun as going to a bar’. The music video has over 15 million views on YouTube.
At HEINEKEN Vietnam, we believe in leading by example and encourage our employees to foster responsible drinking habits during client visits and big company events.
We set up a cross-functional taskforce to understand the behaviours across our departments. Employees are urged to avoid 100% bottoms-up drinking and to start all events with a Heineken® 0.0, with managers called on to be role models. We also engage our employees through fun ways such as a Heineken® 0.0 photo contest, held during a Sports Day event*, and a catchy no bottoms-up song and dance.