Thirsty for Tet: Saigon expected to drink 40 million liters of beer during holiday

By Nguyen Hoai November 21, 2016 | 06:58 pm PT

Bottles of beer move along a production line at a factory of Saigon Beer Corporation (Sabeco). Photo by Reuters/Kham

And 45 million liters of soft drinks, according to new projections.

The demand for beverages in Ho Chi Minh City is expected to increase by 30 percent during the upcoming Lunar New Year Tet holiday, the city’s trade department said.

To be specific, consumption of beer is projected to hit 40 million liters while soft drink sales may reach 45 million liters.

Local companies have been ramping up production to get ready for the country's biggest shopping season.

It's estimated that businesses in the city will allocate about VND17 trillion ($755 million) on producing and stocking goods for the holiday, which will begin on January 28. The volume of goods is expected to go up by 25-45 percent against last Tet.

Tran Thai Ha, of the market research firm Nielsen Vietnam, said the most popular products during Tet are beer, soft drinks, coffee and confections but demand varies from region to region.

Last Tet, sales of beer and beverages increased significantly in the south, but in the north, they slightly fell while demand for confections soared, Ha said.

She added that more and more consumers are looking for healthy food choices so suppliers can boost sales of these products during peak shopping season.

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