By the end of 2011, Tribeco’s accumulative loss had reached VND312 billion, while all the stakes of the North Tribeco and Tribeco Binh Duong had been sold. One year later, Tribeco announced the dissolution. Uni-President, with 43.6 percent of Tribeco’s stakes, has become the new owner of Tribeco Binh Duong.

 

Chuong Duong Beverage JSC is another example. Established in 1952, belonging to French BGI Group, Chuong Duong was once the largest manufacturer in the south of Vietnam.

 

However, since 1993, when foreign beverage manufacturers came to Vietnam and competed fiercely with Chuong Duong in fizzy drinks, Chuong Duong saw its revenue decreasing. 

 

This forced Chuong Duong to make new products including non-carbonated drinks, purified water and liquor. However, this could not help save the brand. 

 

A report released in 2012 showed that 10 leading drink manufacturers held 75 percent of the domestic market. These included Pepsi, Tan Hiep Phat, Coca Cocla, Interfoods, Tribeco, Lavie (Nestle), Red Bull Vietnam, URC, Tribeco Binh Duong and Chuong Duong. Of these, there were only two Vietnamese names – Tan Hiep Phat and Chuong Duong, which held 24 percent of the market share. The others were all foreign brands.

 

An analyst noted that foreign brands account for the overwhelming market share. The domestic market has been flooded with imports from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

 

Nguyen Dang Hien, general director of Tan Quang Minh – Bidrico, warned that Vietnamese enterprises will have to struggle in the time to come to compete with manufacturers in ASEAN.

 

“Even if Vietnam taxes the products, it will not be able to protect small- and medium-sized enterprises,” he said.