Get Ready to: Vietnam. Lens on the SEA beverage and food market

Selling Italian wine and fine food in Southeast Asia is less about “introducing Italy” and more about understanding where demand is already forming, what occasions drive it, and which products overperform in the channels that matter. The region is not homogeneous: Singapore behaves like a premium hub, Thailand is heavily tax-constrained for wine, while Vietnam is a high-potential market where wine remains small versus beer and spirits but is increasingly visible in urban hospitality and modern retail. 

1) Category reality: wine is a niche, but it’s a premium niche

In Vietnam, alcohol consumption is still dominated by beer, with wine representing well under 1% (WHO-based breakdown reported as beer 91.5%, spirits 7.7%, wine 0.8%). This is not negative news for Italian producers: it means wine is positioned as aspirational, a product associated with gifting, business dining and international lifestyle, where origin and storytelling can command margin.

Vietnam’s on-trade has also been structurally influenced by enforcement against drink-driving (often referenced as “Decree 100”), which reduced on-premise alcohol occasions and pushed part of consumption toward more planned, destination venues and at-home formats.

2) Where Italian food demand is growing (and why that matters for wine)

Italian food is a strong “gateway category” in Vietnam because it builds familiarity with Italian flavors and upgrades the dining occasion where wine is introduced. In 2025, Italy’s exports of food and beverages to Vietnam reached €105.1 million (+4% YoY), indicating rising demand for imported quality products even within price sensitivity constraints.

At the same time, Vietnam’s food service sector continues to expand: a USDA GAIN report cites Euromonitor data showing food service value sales reaching US$26.6 billion in 2024 (+7%). For exhibitors, the implication is practical: the places where Italian food is consumed (premium casual, fine dining, hotels) are the same places where Italian wine sells best, because wine is still an “occasion-driven” purchase.

3) The occasions that convert: when buyers actually list Italian wine

Across Southeast Asia, and especially in Vietnam, Italian wine tends to convert in four recurring moments: 

• Business dining and hosting. Wine functions as a status-coded tool for hospitality, especially in international restaurants and hotels. This is where buyers care about: staff training, glass-pour economics, and recognisable styles.

• Celebration and gifting. Vietnam’s gifting culture amplifies premium packaging, recognisable origin cues, and “easy-to-explain” categories (sparkling, classic reds). Your earlier market research frames this as a core demand driver for imported wines, and it aligns with how premium international wine and spirits typically perform in Southeast Asian hospitality economies. 

• Modern social dining. Younger urban drinkers increasingly explore wine through casual discovery. Different researches highlight curiosity-driven categories (e.g., orange wines becoming a conversation starter with younger audiences). 

• Tourism-led premium venues. Tourism strengthens premium on-trade demand and menu experimentation; USDA’s food service growth narrative explicitly links sector expansion to improved living standards and tourism 

4) “What sells” by style: the formats that are easiest to place

In Southeast Asia, the best-performing Italian propositions tend to be the ones that are legible (easy to understand), service-friendly (work by the glass), and food-compatible. 

• Sparkling (Prosecco-led portfolios): easiest entry point for new consumers and high-performing in celebratory and aperitivo contexts. It also pairs naturally with fried and salty foods common across the region’s dining occasions.

• Fresh whites with aromatic clarity (Pinot Grigio; Vermentino; Falanghina): overperform with seafood, herbs, and lighter modern menus.

• “Modern reds” (medium body, strong fruit clarity, controlled tannin): easier to deploy in warm climates and by-the-glass programs than heavily structured, high-alcohol profiles—especially as moderation and lighter styles gain relevance across younger cohorts (a trend you also map in your research).

5) Pairing that moves the needle: Italian wine × Asian food (Vietnam focus)

The pairing strategy that works best in SEA is not “match region with region.” It’s “match texture and heat.”

• Sparkling with fried, crunchy, salty: Prosecco and other sparkling styles consistently win against spring rolls, fried seafood, crispy pork, and street-food-inspired small plates because acidity and bubbles reset the palate.

• Off-dry or highly aromatic whites with spice and herbs: when dishes lean spicy, sour, or herbaceous, slightly softer profiles (or aromatics) reduce heat perception and preserve freshness.

• Lambrusco with grilled meats and smoky-sweet glazes: works particularly well with Vietnamese grilled pork/beef formats where sweetness and char need acidity and low tannin.

• Light-to-medium reds with umami: Primitivo/ Nero d’Avola style positioning (freshness over extraction) works better than heavy tannin when dishes bring fish sauce, soy, mushrooms, or long-simmered broths. 

Over the past several years, Italian institutions in Vietnam have shown that Italian wine × Vietnamese cuisine pairings are not only feasible, but culturally and commercially relevant. The Italian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City has repeatedly included official initiatives that explicitly focus on pairing Italian wines with local culinary specialties such as the wine dinner dedicated to the art of pairing Italian wines with Vietnamese dishes, organised in collaboration with ICHAM and the Sommelier Association as part of the Week of Italian Cuisine. 

The key point for exhibitors is not the dinner itself, it’s what it proves: pairing is already being used as a credible bridge between cultures, creating a shared language for trade professionals, chefs, and buyers. That legacy matters because it reduces the “risk perception” around mixed pairings: it moves the conversation from “does this work?” to “which styles work best, for which dishes, in which venues?”. 

In this context, Wines Experience positions wine and food together not as a marketing concept, but as a coherent continuation of an established approach: integrating cuisines and drinking cultures in a way that is practical for the on-trade, legible for consumers, and consistent with how Italian excellence has already been presented in Vietnam through institutional and professional collaborations. 

6) Where to focus on-site at Wines Experience Vietnam

For exhibitors, “what sells” ultimately becomes a channel plan:

• Hotels, premium restaurants, and wine bars: best for premium positioning, glass-pour programs, staff training, and storytelling.

• Specialty retail and modern supermarkets: best for recognisable categories, gifting packs, and seasonal activations.

• E-commerce as reinforcement: not always the primary entry point, but increasingly relevant for discovery and repeat, especially once a brand is validated in on-trade.