US drinks giant Molson Coors has announced a £25m investment in its Burton-upon-Trent brewery that includes a new hard seltzer canning line and upgrades to its beer and cider packaging facilities to improve efficiencies.
The investment in the hard seltzer canning line follows the success of the category in the US, which saw retail sales of $2.7bn in the 12 months to June last year and already commands a 2.6% market share of all beverage alcohol in the country. The UK facility aims to ensure Molson Coors is ready to meet the expected growth in demand for hard seltzers in this country and across Western Europe.
The new line will package Molson Coors’ hard seltzer brand Three Fold, which launched at the end of last year through the brand’s own e-commerce site and is now available in Morrisons, Bargain Booze and through wholesaler Bestway.
Molson Coors launched a £5m multi-media and experiential marketing campaign earlier in June to support the roll-out of Three Fold – the biggest brand investment the company has ever made into a new category.
“The hard seltzer and ready-to-drink (RTD) categories present a huge opportunity for growth. The RTD category is the fastest growing in alcohol globally and, while it’s early days, we’re seeing strong indications that hard seltzers will prove as popular in Western Europe as they have in the US,” said Phil Whitehead, Managing Director of Molson Coors Beverage Company in Western Europe.
“This investment will allow us to scale up at speed and help our customers to rapidly respond to that growing demand from consumers in this quickly emerging category.”
Work to install the new hard seltzer canning line will begin in late 2021 and the first cans are due to be produced from the new line in late spring 2022. Molson Coors will also upgrade its beer and cider packaging lines which will improve efficiencies in its operations. This work will also begin later this year and is expected to be complete by early 2022.
Molson Coors has invested more than £100m in its Burton brewery over the past decade, where the company employs more than 1,000 people.
Whitehead added: “While we’re committed to opening up new opportunities for growth for our customers by responding to changing consumer tastes beyond beer and cider, our heartlands are in beer and the ongoing investment we’re making in our Burton Brewery will help to further drive efficiencies and meet our sustainability goals.
“This latest round of investment demonstrates not only our commitment to grow our portfolio but also to our great brewing home and town of Burton. We’re proud to operate our biggest brewery here in Burton and with this investment, we are continuing to cement the town’s role as the home of British brewing and a growing drinks industry.”
