Council Promotes U.S. Barley, Malt To Vietnamese Beer Industry

The U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC’s) Southeast Asia & Oceania (SEA&O) office recently launched its first promotional program for barley and barley malt in Vietnam, where the Council organized a roundtable discussion with 14 representatives from Vietnam’s fast-growing craft beer industry to explore the needs of the market and areas of cooperation for continued demand growth.

Vietnam, one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies, has also been one of the world’s fastest-growing beer markets, posting the world’s highest growth in consumption from 2014 to 2019. This period coincided with the boom in craft brewing in Vietnam, that began in 2015. Vietnam now consumes roughly 1.2 billion gallons of beer per year, ranking ninth globally. While the craft beer segment of the market makes up a relatively small percentage of demand, its share of demand continues to grow significantly year-over-year as incomes increase and consumer preferences diversify.

“Vietnam’s brewing industry continues to mature parallel to changing global trends in production, consumer preferences and trade. This is generating an appetite to explore new ingredients and sourcing strategies that can underpin the ability to continuously produce unique beer offerings for its consumers,” said Rowena Ngumbang, USGC regional marketing manager for SEA&O. “There is an emerging demand for higher-quality barley and malt, so finding synergy with local market nuances will be key in penetrating this market.”

The comprehensive discussion with Vietnamese craft brewing leaders provided USGC staff with unique insight into the budding industry’s supply chain, operational constraints and growth tailwinds, as well as a deeper understanding of the dynamic and evolving taste profiles of the market. It also provided a platform for the Vietnamese craft brewing industry to appreciate shared common interests and align on strategies to cooperate as a broader industry to address constraints related to trade, logistics and policy.

The Council’s activities concluded with a visit to the USA Food & Beverage Expo, where staff exhibited U.S. barley and barley malt samples to local breweries, chefs, restaurants and general commodity importers. The expo was part of United Tastes, a program by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service (USDA’s FAS), promoting the quality and safety of U.S. food and beverage products.

“The craft beer roundtable and USA Food & Beverage Expo helped elucidate to the Council the potential of the market and how the U.S. barley and barley malt industry can most effectively support the emerging brewing industry in Vietnam,” said Chris Markey, USGC deputy regional director for SEA&O. “The value propositions of U.S. barley – reliability, wide flavor profiles and sustainability – certainly position it as a solution to meet the Vietnamese industry’s demand for expanded brew profiles with unique notes as consumer tastes continue to evolve.”

Learn more about the Council’s work in Vietnam here.