Celebrating 30 years of Coca-Cola in Vietnam

The anniversary celebrations brought together a diverse group of guests, including government officials, business partners, special guests, and media representatives. The event showcased Coca-Cola’s journey in Vietnam with exhibits featuring TV commercials, sustainability and community programmes, and a unique collection of Coca-Cola bottles and cans from the past 30 years, including the beloved Coca-Cola Tet limited edition packages.

Leonardo Garcia, general director of Coca-Cola Vietnam and Cambodia

After almost 30 years operating in the country, Coca-Cola Vietnam remains committed to maintaining responsible business practices and giving back to the communities it serves.

Coca-Cola's sustainability efforts in Vietnam emphasise packaging, water leadership, climate action, and community support.

Through its sustainable packaging "World Without Waste" strategy, Coca-Cola aims to collect and recycle the equivalent of every bottle and can it sells by 2030, and use at least half of recycled materials in its packaging globally.

These include its 100 per cent rPET bottles (excluding caps and labels) that were launched in Vietnam in 2022. The company is helping to support and drive locally relevant collection and recycling solutions, and is one of the founding members of the Packaging Recycling Organisation (PRO) Vietnam, a partnership with other leading companies, recyclers, and government agencies to accelerate local packaging collection and recycling in support of a clean and green Vietnam. Its partnership with Ocean Cleanup in Vietnam also aims to deploy the scalable Interceptor™ technology in the Can Tho River to prevent plastic from entering the ocean.

Moreover, Coca-Cola Vietnam has collaborated with VECA, the digital scrap collection app, to facilitate convenient PET plastic bottle recycling in Ho Chi Minh City, allowing consumers to schedule collections and earn rewards.

Thanks to the support of the Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF), the company’s global philanthropic arm, drinking water filtration systems have been installed across 39 Danang high schools over the past six years, benefiting thousands of students, teachers, and nearby residents.

It also has a 10-year partnership with World Wildlife Fund Vietnam and TCCF for water recovery in Tram Chim National Park.

Additionally, Coca-Cola has focused on community support through partnerships with Red Cross Vietnam, including supporting Vietnam’s COVID-19 response, emergency relief during the 2022 Danang floods, and supporting those in need during the Lunar New Year festival.

Continuing "Our Bottles Can Live Many Lives" initiative

Building on the success of its inaugural year, Coca-Cola announced on August 22 the continuation of its "Our Bottles Can Live Many Lives" initiative.

This initiative aims to inspire consumers, especially Gen Z, to separate out and recycle their empty bottles and cans.

For the first time, Coca-Cola Vietnam is collaborating with BOTOL to install bottle and can reverse vending machines in residential areas and universities across Ho Chi Minh City. The bottles and cans collected via the machines will then be processed for recycling.

The recycling programme now includes a redemption system and a dedicated hub on Zalo, offering prizes for recycling to top-performing individuals and universities to drive engagement and foster a community-driven approach to recycling.

According to Le Ngoc Tuan, International Cooperation Department Head from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and is in the process of negotiating with other countries to establish a Global Plastic Treaty to address plastic pollution.

“The government is also encouraging and implementing a circular economy model to achieve its environmental and climate goals. With its Sustainable Development Strategy, Coca-Cola is striving to contribute to these objectives. We highly appreciate Coca-Cola's efforts and hope that more businesses will join hands and collaborate with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other ministries to achieve sustainable economic goals, while also contributing to the global common effort,” Tuan said.

Coca-Cola has been refreshing Vietnamese consumers since 1994. Today, the Coca-Cola system in Vietnam operates three manufacturing plants in Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City, with a new plant under construction in Long An. The Coca-Cola system in Vietnam serves seven regions via six distribution centres, reaching more than 800,000 retail outlets.

Employing around 4,000 people in Vietnam, Coca-Cola also creates six to eight times as many indirect jobs.

Coca-Cola's commitment to its workforce in Vietnam has been recognised by Anphabe Company, earning the "Best Place to Work" award consistently from 2018 to 2023.

Coca-Cola Vietnam's parent firm Swire Pacific sells US subsidiary in strategic shift Swire Pacific, the diversified conglomerate and the parent firm of Coca-Cola Vietnam, has recently become the second company in Hong Kong to undertake asset sales. The move comes as borrowing costs in the region have surged to unmanageable levels, prompting Swire to offload certain subsidiaries to reduce its debt burden and ensure financial stability, according to Bloomberg.

Coca-Cola embraces cultural unity with Lunar New Year campaign On December 22, Coca-Cola Vietnam launched its Lunar New Year 2024 campaign, themed "Gan Ket Lam Nen Tet Dieu Ky" (Unite for a Magical Lunar New Year), celebrating cultural heritage and fostering intergenerational connections by highlighting shared experiences within families.

Coca-Cola unites 1,000 Vietnamese families at Lunar New Year celebration In a grand celebration of its 30-year presence in Vietnam, Coca-Cola organised the Magic Tet Meal Table event on January 20, marking a significant milestone on its journey with Vietnamese families. The event, a blend of cultural festivity and corporate philanthropy, witnessed participation from over 1,000 families, along with partners, media agencies, and artists, all uniting to extend goodwill to the wider community.