Saigon Beer a focus for local leading brewer

May 27, 2013 | 16:44

(0) user say

Vietnam’s top brewer Sabeco is strengthening its iconic Saigon Beer brand to fight off tougher competition in the country.

Sabeco is now working harder to champion its image - Photo: Le Toan

The company is now also working to rename itself as Saigon Beer Corporation because ‘Saigon Beer’ has been a well-established brand used by many local consumers when referring to the company, the brewer’s chairman Phan Dang Tuat said.

Addressing the Ho Chi Minh City-based firm’s annual shareholders’ meeting last week, Tuat said Sabeco would give top priorities to the new brand.

The company has had the plans to spend VND1 trillion ($47.85 million) this year on marketing and sales activities with a hope of defending its market share in Vietnam.

Tuat said his firm would also work on promoting high profile events, such as getting support from global sports stars, to champion its image.

Sabeco this year targeted a sales volume of 1.33 billion litres of beer, an increase of 5 per cent on last year’s figure. The firm’s shares are still OTC stocks and it is aiming to be officially listed.

Vietnam is among the top beer consumers in the Southeast Asian region. The country’s beer output last year totalled 2.82 billion litres, up 6.7 per cent from a year earlier. The domestic beer industry is reportedly contributing around $5-7 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product every year and employing some 1.5 million workers.

By By Tuong Thuy

What the stars mean:

★ Poor ★ ★ Promising ★★★ Good ★★★★ Very good ★★★★★ Exceptional