HCMC – HEINEKEN Vietnam has inaugurated a brewery in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with a total cost of US$400 million, or VND9.5 trillion, making it the largest brewery in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
The Vung Tau brewery, with an annual capacity of 11 million hectoliters, covers 40 hectares of land at the My Xuan A industrial zone in Phu My Town.
The brewery, legally acquired by HEINEKEN Vietnam in 2017, has experienced multiple expansions, growing over 36 times bigger in capacity in the last five years to become the state-of-the-art, fully automated and sustainable brewery.
Speaking at the grand opening of the brewery on September 24, Alexander Koch, HEINEKEN Vietnam’s Managing Director, said, “The grand opening of the brewery is just the beginning as we continue to have bold plans for Vung Tau, including running the brewery fully on renewable energy, becoming the most water efficient brewery in the world, while staying part of and growing with the local community.”
The Vung Tau brewery is built with a clear green vision, with 27% of its area planned for gardens and green spaces. Since the acquisition of the Carlsberg plant, the brewery has cut energy consumption by almost a half on a per hectolitre basis. Currently, 97% of its demand for thermal energy comes from a biomass plant at the My Xuan industrial zone.
The Vung Tau brewery is also the most water efficient of all HEINEKEN breweries in Asia Pacific. It is taking the brewery only 2.32 liters of water to make one liter of beer. After the brewing process, wastewater at Vung Tau brewery is treated to grade A standard, and 8% of the water is reclaimed and used for cleaning purposes in the brewery.
The brewery is considered the innovation hub for HEINEKEN Vietnam, having produced seven new products in Vietnam.
Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said, “The opening of such a big and modern brewery resulted from HEINEKEN Vietnam’s enhanced efforts, contributing to the nation’s green growth, with its commitments to the use of clean energy and water efficiency.”
HEINEKEN CEO Dolf van den Brink expressed his gratitude to the Government and local authorities for the support extended to the company, emphasizing HEINEKEN’s commitment to growing together with Vietnam in the next chapter of productive, innovative and sustainable development.
The Vung Tau brewery has automated to a large extent all its operations in the beer-making process, from raw material delivery, brewing, filtration to delivery for packing, making it the most productive HEINEKEN brewery in the world.
