Molson Coors to invest £25m in Burton brewery, UK

Molson Coors Beverage Company is investing £25 million in its Burton-upon-Trent brewery to scale up its hard seltzer operations and improve its beer and cider packaging facilities.

The investment will see the installation of a new hard seltzer canning line and upgrades to its beer and cider packaging facilities, which the brewer says will significantly improve efficiencies in its operations.

With a new canning line, Molson Coors aims to meet the expected growth in demand for hard seltzers in the UK and Western Europe – following the success of the category in the US.

The new line will package the company’s hard seltzer brand Three Fold which comes in Red Berries, Citrus and Tropical flavours in 330ml cans; as well as support future innovation in the ready-to-drink (RTD) category and premium beers.

Molson Coors’ latest project comes after it invested £5 million in June to support the launch of Three Fold – marking the biggest brand investment made by the firm in the new category.  

Phil Whitehead, managing director of Molson Coors Beverage Company in Western Europe, said: “The RTD category is the fastest growing in alcohol globally and, while it is early days, we’re seeing strong indications that hard seltzers will prove as popular in Western Europe as they have in the US.

“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.”

Over the last decade, Molson Coors has invested over £100 million investment in its Burton-upon-Trent headquarters – which has helped the brewery transition to zero waste to landfill and become powered by 100% renewable electricity (along with all of its UK operations).

Work to install the new hard seltzer canning line will begin in late 2021, with the first cans expected to be produced in late spring 2022. Meanwhile, work on its beer and cider packaging facilities will begin later this year and is due to be completed by early 2022.

Whitehead continued: “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.”