Operational Efficiency Evaluation of Vietnam Firms in Food and Beverage

Over the past decade, Vietnam's Food and Beverage (F&B) industry has become a key driver of economic growth. Despite its importance, the industry struggles to compete with ASEAN counterparts with more advanced technologies. Therefore, improving the operational efficiency of Vietnamese F&B firms is essential for sustained economic development. This study evaluates and forecasts the operational efficiency of Vietnamese food and beverage processing companies and propose evidence-based strategies for productivity improvement. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), combined with the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) and Super-SBM Model, we analyse operational performance and productivity changes across 21 Vietnamese F&B firms from 2014 to 2023. Our findings reveal industry efficiency patterns, highlighting specific trends and variations in operational performance among the surveyed firms, and identifying key factors influencing these efficiencies. The study provides practical recommendations for improving under-performing firms and strengthening the global competitiveness of high-performing ones. However, as the analysis is based on data from 21 Vietnamese food and beverage processing companies, the findings may not be fully representative of the entire F&B industry in Vietnam.