In early 2025, HEINEKEN Vietnam reached a major milestone in its sustainability journey, achieving water balance in the Tien River Basin — one of the most vital water sources for the Mekong Delta’s local communities and agriculture. This means that every year, roughly 690 million liters of water are being returned to local nature, exceeding the amount used in its Tien Giang brewery.
In Vietnam, rivers sustain millions of lives but are facing increasing pressure, making water a central pillar of the nation’s sustainable development. Recognizing its critical importance to both local communities and the brewing industry, HEINEKEN Vietnam has long viewed water not merely as an input, but as a shared resource that must be protected and nurtured. Guided by this principle, the company has developed a holistic water governance strategy focused on three key areas: improving water efficiency in production, returning water to communities and nature, and supporting agricultural suppliers to use water more responsibly.
Doing more with less
Every great beer starts with sustainable water use. Within the walls of its breweries, HEINEKEN Vietnam takes a twofold approach: fostering a culture of efficient water use among employees and advancing technologies that enable water to be treated, reused, and recycled.
This approach has yielded strong results over the years. Water efficiency is one of the most important measures of sustainability in brewing. In 2024, HEINEKEN Vietnam was once again HEINEKEN’s most water-efficient in the Asia-Pacific region, while using significantly less water (2.39hl/hl) than the global industry average (4 – 6hl/hl). This achievement reflects not only technological advancement but also the collective commitment of HEINEKEN Vietnam’s people, who make water conservation a daily priority.
Across all its breweries, HEINEKEN Vietnam also has advanced systems in place to ensure every drop of wastewater is thoroughly treated to standards that go beyond requirements before being returned to nature. The company also reuses part of this treated water for suitable purposes within its operations, reducing pressure on local water sources.
Going beyond brewery walls
Guided by a long-term sustainability vision, HEINEKEN Vietnam deeply understands the importance of water – not just for brewing, but for sustaining life around its breweries. The company’s water governance strategy therefore goes beyond its own operations, placing the health of local watersheds at the center of its efforts. Its ambition is to give back as much water to nature and local communities as it uses in its products, especially in water-stressed areas.
This ambition comes to life through an approach known as “water balancing.” In simple terms, water balancing means returning to nature the amount of water used in products of HEINEKEN Vietnam. In practice, this translates into investments in projects that restore water flow, improve quality, sustain biodiversity in nearby watersheds, and provide clean water to the local communities.
Since 2022, HEINEKEN Vietnam has been collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, WWF-Vietnam, and local authorities to restore and conserve water in three key river basins, including the Red, Dong Nai, and Tien rivers – the most important river basins for millions of lives in Vietnam. With total funding of VND30 billion from HEINEKEN Vietnam, aims to conserve 3 billion liters of water annually in these key river basins until the end of 2025.
Through this program, the company is now replenishing more than 559 million liters of water into the Tien River Basin every year, with initiatives such as planting native trees, improving water systems, and upgrading infrastructure to better manage flow and reduce fire risks. In addition, HEINEKEN Vietnam’s clean water projects in Dong Thap (previously Tien Giang) Province are providing another 131 million liters of safe water annually to local households.
Together, these efforts return over 690 million liters of water each year to the Tien River Basin – more than the total amount used to brew HEINEKEN Vietnam’s products at its Tien Giang brewery.
The partnership with WWF-Vietnam continues in the Red and Dong Nai River basins, focusing on improving water quality, restoring ecosystems, raising public awareness, and helping residents use water more responsibly.
Calling for collective actions on water, HEINEKEN Vietnam is also working with its farming partners to enhance efficient water use and water quality protection. Therein, the company provides training, support, and sustainable farming practices to help farmers make a positive impact.
Into the future, HEINEKEN Vietnam looks forward to exploring new initiatives towards healthy watersheds and inspiring others to be a part of this journey. Because when everyone comes together to care for water, every drop can truly make a difference for generations to come.
