After having invested USD 140 million, Cambodia based Vattanac Group, which has a portfolio of diverse business interests, including investments in retail, real estate, industrial park, banking, golf resort, hospitality, construction material, F&B, and education, has celebrated on Thursday the “The first brewing ceremony” to mark the beginning of the beer production at its new Vattanac Brewery in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh.
Soon after the official approval by the Royal Government and the Council for the Development of Cambodia on June 10, 2020 (inside.beer, 17.6.2020), construction work started and was completed in only 483 days despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The brewery features latest technology from Germany and has a capacity up to 76 million cases per year (6.5 million hl).
The project has provided employment to more than 1,000 workers to date and will create additional employment opportunities for up to 1,500 Cambodians, not to mention other indirect jobs.
Vattanac Group is not new to the beer industry. Progress Import-Export Company, a subsidiary of Vattanac Group, established Cambodia Brewery Limited (CBL) in 1994 as a joint-venture with Asia Pacific Brewery Limited (APB) which was at that time part owned by Heineken. In 2012, Heineken bought the shares in APB formerly held by its partner Fraser & Neave and became sole owner of the company that was subsequently merged with Heineken Asia Pacific to become Heineken's regional hub. In 2014, Heineken also bought the shares held by the Vattanac Group and became the sole owner of CBL. In March 2017, CBL announced to more than triple its existing capacity to 3 million hectoliters (inside.beer, 11.3.2017). The capacity is enough to satisfy the need of nearly half of the population in the fast-growing Asian country, Heineken said at that time.
With 20 years of experience in the beer market in Cambodia, and a network of companies all over the country, Vattanac Group will be a serious competitor not only for the international brewering groups represented in the country such as Heineken and Carlsberg but also to local competitors like the private Chip Mong Group that claims to be Cambodia's leading producer of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages with its unit Cambodia’s Khmer Beverages.
