HEINEKEN Vietnam creates value for a better Vietnam

Choosing Green is a deliberate choice made by HEINEKEN on a global level

Accordingly, Choosing Green is a deliberate choice made by HEINEKEN on a global level as well as in Vietnam to be a sustainable business.

For a company that has made “Brewing a Better Vietnam” its core purpose, Choosing Green means creating real value for Vietnam in all aspects of its business operations, an approach which Heineken has taken on over 28 years in Vietnam and also inspired others to follow.

By focusing on value creation, HEINEKEN Vietnam can ensure that its approach is truly sustainable over the long term, as its initiatives are lasting and self-sufficient – leading to gains to the business, the community and the environment.

In 2018, Heineken Vietnam was honoured as the most sustainable company in Vietnam in the manufacturing sector for the second consecutive year, as well as being named one of the best companies to work for in Asia by HR Asia Magazine.

These achievements were made possible thanks to the company’s effort in creating value for People, Planet and Prosperity in everything that they do, including:

Sustaining prosperity for a better Vietnam

In 2018, HEINEKEN Vietnam directly and indirectly employed and supported 166,000 jobs throughout its value chain, (50 per cent increase compared to 2014). HEINEKEN Vietnam contributed nearly 1 per cent of Vietnam’s total GDP in 2018 (50 per cent increase in its contribution compared to Vietnam GDP 5 years ago).

With the goal of creating a sustainable culture and relationship between stakeholders, HEINEKEN Vietnam actively engaged with its suppliers by providing sustainability workshops for 100 suppliers and also holding circular economy workshops with 20 Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development members to share its sustainable practices.

In 2018, HEINEKEN Vietnam continued to invest significantly in responsible consumption initiatives to influence behaviour change regarding drink driving and responsible consumption.

These significant campaigns reached 30.5 million consumers, regardless of their brand choice. In addition, HEINEKEN Vietnam continually pursues the goal of creating a safe working environment, with substantial investment in road safety training in particular.

Sustaining the planet for a better Vietnam

Leo Evers, managing director of HEINEKEN Vietnam, presenting the Sustainability Report

HEINEKEN Vietnam reuses or recycles almost 99 per cent of its waste or by-products and currently four out of its six breweries already source all of their thermal energy needs from carbon neutral, biomass-generated steam.

Biomass is the use of agricultural by-products to generate steam to power HEINEKEN Vietnam’s breweries.

HEINEKEN Vietnam has also worked extensively on reducing the company’s CO2 footprint in logistics – by optimising its fleet and making other improvements.

The company reduced 2,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions from its logistic operations alone in 2018. HEINEKEN Vietnam also treats 100 per cent of its wastewater and returns it safely to the environment.

In a clear example of how acting sustainably can create value for people and planet while at the same time creating prosperity, HEINEKEN Vietnam pioneered a programme in 2018 to recycle Tiger Beer bottle caps and to use those caps to create the iron to build a new bridge for the community in the Mekong Delta.

This programme not only helps to encourage recycling and reducing waste, but also provides vital infrastructure for the community and is beneficial to Tiger Beer, one of the leading beers in Vietnam.

HEINEKEN Vietnam proactively goes beyond its own green practices throughout its supply chain; it also seeks to inspire and influence other businesses in Vietnam and the wider public to choose green for a better Vietnam.

Hoang Anh Dung, from Hoang Nguyen garments, a local small business, said he has “adopted many HEINEKEN Vietnam initiatives such as Life Saving rules, water conservation and sustainability reporting” at his company.

In order to inspire the wider public to “choose green” and act more sustainably, HEINEKEN Vietnam has collaborated for the first time with singer-song writer Kimmese to create a Rap song named Our Green Home as a way to inspire and call for everyone to choose green by taking simple, realistic actions in their everyday life.

“We believe that “Choosing Green” or acting sustainably, is not an abstract concept that only sounds good on paper. In fact, our sustainability journey shows concrete evidence of the tangible value that HEINEKEN Vietnam has created to brew a better Vietnam,” said Leo Evers, managing director of HEINEKEN Vietnam.

“As some of our partners shared on stage today, if we can continue to create real sustainable value we can create even greater impact here in Vietnam. It all starts by taking the first simple step, therefore we hope to inspire others to choose green also by releasing a music video with leading artist Kimmese,” he added.

On June 19, the Rap song Our Green Home was released on both Kimmese’ social media accounts and HEINEKEN Vietnam Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HEINEKENVietnam/.