Which direction to develop the beverage industry sustainably?

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Viet - Chairman of the Vietnam Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Association (VBA), the beverage industry with its main products being alcohol, beer and soft drinks is facing new trends after consumers experienced the COVID-19 pandemic. This industry has undergone a strong transformation in the "new normal" conditions, facing stricter demands from consumers, from market demand and from environmental protection requirements towards sustainable development.

To be able to stand firm in the market, businesses need to optimize costs to strongly reform production processes, boldly invest in new, advanced, modern systems with strict monitoring processes.

How to obtain fuel-saving and environmentally-friendly production technologies and bring to market products that are trusted by customers is always an important goal for businesses.

“Vietnam has issued environmental protection laws and packaging recycling requirements for the beverage industry. Therefore, the trend of searching for and using environmentally friendly materials, reducing plastic waste and promoting the circular economic model will not only benefit businesses but also contribute to environmental protection; build trust with state management agencies and consumers,” said Mr. Viet.

Delegates attending the workshop.

At the conference, delegates shared the picture of the global beverage industry. In particular, China in 2024 witnessed a major shift to health-serving products. Total beverage output reached 188 million tons, up 7.5% over the same period, in which nutritional support beverage groups such as mineral water, bioactive tea drinks and specialized beverages accounted for an increasingly high proportion.

However, the Chinese beverage industry also faces internal challenges: debt-to-asset ratio at 52.2%, inventory rising 4.47%, and loss-making enterprises reaching 21.7%. This further urges businesses to invest more heavily in functional, healthy products and sustainable production to maintain consumer confidence.

In Japan, health has been a top priority for the beverage industry for many years now. Total sales in 2023 reached 4.45 trillion yen, up 7.0%, with products such as herbal tea (23.7% market share), natural mineral water (20.8%) and sports drinks (11.2% growth) all widely chosen for their outstanding health benefits.

In particular, the Japanese market has seen a boom in functional beverages, with a 109.7% increase in volume. New products - more than 1,300 lines in just one year - mainly target targets such as weight control, blood pressure regulation, blood sugar stabilization, digestive support and immunity enhancement.

Major brands such as Coca Cola Japan, Suntory and Asahi have simultaneously introduced herbal teas that are sugar-free or use only Erythritol (a safe sweetener) instead of refined sugar, in line with consumer demand for blood sugar control and reducing the risk of chronic diseases.

Sharing about the economic problem of recycling beverage packaging to green the environment, a representative of Aceretech Company (Japan) said that Aceretech has made a breakthrough in practical application in the technology of recycling plastic bottles used in the food industry (PET) to meet standards. That is to strictly comply with food contact standards in many advanced countries, with detoxification and granulation systems; high-performance dehumidification reactors.

Along with that are the extrusion system, pre-drying system, vacuum exhaust system, solid state condensation poly (fiber) system (SSP), molten plastic filtration system and automatic fiber granule cutting system.

Through VacuPure vacuum detoxification technology, combined with a coaxial twin-screw extruder and SSP system, Aceretech completely removes residual contaminants in recycled PET, ensuring absolute safety when in contact with food, even in sterile and frozen environments.

“This is an important step towards reducing dependence on virgin plastic, while contributing to building a circular, health-friendly consumer production,” said an Aceretech representative.

A representative of Youngsun Intelligent Company (China) shared that the company has cooperated with leading brands such as Coca-Cola, Samsung... With comprehensive liquid packaging solutions, packaging technology, remote maintenance and operation services, the company can promote cooperation with beverage enterprises in innovating production technology.

Ha Anh

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/kinh-te/huong-di-nao-de-phat-trien-ben-vung-nganh-cong-nghiep-do-uong/20250426111417824