Sales soar for high-end beer as incomes rise

According to the Vietnam Beer, Alcohol, Beverage Association, the growth of beer production has been slowing down. Prior to 2010, the growth rate was always at two-digit levels, but it is now 5-8 percent only. However, Vietnam remains one of the few beer markets in the world which is still maintaining high growth.

The high-end beer market segment has been witnessing a strong rise with an annual growth rate of 15 percent, much higher than the 4.8 percent of the low-cost segment.

Also according to the association, high-end beer products hold 30 percent of market share, a two-fold increase compared with 2014. 

There are many well-known brands in the market segment, including foreign ones such Heineken, Tiger, Sapporo, Budweiser and Carlsberg, and Vietnamese such as Truc Bach, Hanoi Premium, Saigon Special, Saigon Large and Saigon Gold. However, Heineken remains the best known.

Heineken, though positioned as a luxury product, still has high output, just lower than Sabeco. The gap between Heineken and the largest Vietnamese beer brand has narrowed.

In 2017, of 4 billion liters of beer produced, Sabeco had 1.7 billion liters, accounting for 40 percent of market share, while Heineken had 1.1 billion, or 28 percent of market share.

BCG, a consultancy firm, released a report showing that the middle class in Vietnam has been increasing more rapidly than in any other country in South East Asia. 

It is expected that Vietnam will have 33 million people with monthly income of US$714 and more, or one-third of the population, by 2020.

The rapid increase of the middle class is supporting the strong rise of the high-end beer market.

The prediction has prompted brewers to invest in high-end products. AB Inbev, which has two breweries in Vietnam, plans to invest US$7 million more to improve  production capacity, while Sapporo can produce 100 million liters a year

Vietnamese brewers including Habeco and Sabeco have also paid higher attention to making high-end products. Sabeco has Saigon Special, while Habeco has Hanoi Premium, both of which maintained a high growth rate of 15 percent in the last few years.

Meanwhile, popular products have seen sales decreasing. Bottled Hanoi Beer 450 ml is an example. The sales of the product dropped by 60 million liters in 2017.