HEINEKEN Vietnam raised its ambition to sustainability amid a turbulent year

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

Path to Net Zero: Zero waste to landfill across six breweries; Beers brewed with 52 percent renewable energy; Water efficiency at 2.65hl/hl, more efficient than the industry’s average; VND30 billion invested into protecting healthy watersheds.

Path to Inclusive, Fair and Equitable World: Contribution equivalent to 0.7 percent Vietnam’s GDP; 152,000 direct and indirect jobs supported throughout value chain; 36 percent women in senior management positions, four percent increase from 2020; 11 percent women in sales, 16 percent 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 percent ABV; 47 million people reached through Enjoy Heineken® Responsibly campaign.

These advancements contribute to the company’s efforts to realize 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 recognized 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 honored in the Top 3 of this ranking.

“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 realize 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 three-on-site to maintain supply and business continuity, as well as protected jobs and salaries.

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, totaling almost VND7 billion. 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 Favorite Outlet, Fuel Their Courage” - a social media campaign aiming at inviting people back to their favorite 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 flavor, 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 percent renewable energy, 100 percent 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 percent renewable energy. On its 30th Anniversary in Vietnam, the company also announced an investment of VND30 billion to help restore Vietnam’s nature and preserve healthy watersheds in the long term.