Competition brews in beer, liquor sector
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The Dung Quat Brewery in the central province of Quang Ngai. The nation's beverage sector continues to attract foreign investment despite the hangover from the global recession. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Long |
Ha Noi — The nation's beverage sector continues to attract foreign investment despite the hangover from the global recession, according to the market research website
www.companiesandmarkets.com.
In its Viet Nam Food and Drink Report for the second quarter, released last Friday, the website said a number of major global brewers had recently announced fresh investments in Viet Nam's beer market, amid brewing competition.
Danish brewing giant Carlsberg announced plans last November to acquire the remaining 50-per-cent stake in its Hue brewery as part of its objective to strengthen its position in the Vietnamese market. Carlsberg originally purchased a half interest in the brewery in 1994 under an agreement with the Hue People's Committee.
In December, meanwhile, Japanese brewer Sapporo announced its acquisition of a 65-per-cent stake in Kronenbourg Viet Nam, the Carlsberg and Viet Nam Tobacco Corporation (Vinataba) joint venture. The US$25.4 million deal would give Sapporo full ownership of Carlsberg's stake and 15 per cent of Vinataba's interest.
Sapporo has already confirmed that the construction of a new brewery would be among its first priorities following the acquisition.
The Viet Nam Food and Drink Report said Viet Nam "is considered to be one of the world's highest-potential beer markets, with growth fuelled by economic expansion and a growing tourism sector."
The report predicted that additional brewers already present in the market were expected to ramp up investment in order to secure a stronger market foothold.
The US's Crown Holdings Inc has already announced that it would invest another $25 million in its production facility in Tam Phuoc Industrial Zone in the southern province of Dong Nai. It bought the production line last June from Malaysia's Interfood Shareholding Co.
Crown Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd chairman Josef Salaerts said the line, with capacity of 600 million 330ml cans annually, could begin operations in the fourth quarter of this year, with capacity to rise a year later to 1.2 billion cans.
The company, with five production lines nationwide, would have an overall capacity of 3 billion cans, he said.
A report by the British Business Monitor International Ltd predicted that earnings in Viet Nam's alcoholic beverage industry were increasing 16 per cent annually.
Beer, accounted for 97.9 per cent of total alcohol beverage consumption, was expected to see a growth in consumption averaging over 50 per cent per year through to 2013. — VNS