Big changes at Molson Coors

Molson Coors, responsible for brewing Millers, Coors and Molson brands around the world, has announced restructuring plans that will cut around 400-500 jobs and retire the MillerCoors moniker.

MillerCoors had been the moniker for the company’s U.S. branch since 2008, but with flagging sales of its flagship brands, the company will be known as Molson Coors Beverage Company in order “to better reflect its strategic intent to expand beyond beer and into other growth adjacencies,” per a press release.

“Our business is at an inflection point. We can continue down the path we’ve been on for several years now, or we can make the significant and difficult changes necessary to get back on the right track,” Molson Coors President and CEO Gavin Hattersley said in the release. “Our revitalization plan is designed to streamline the company, move faster, and free up resources to invest in our brands and our capabilities. Through it, we will create a brighter future for Molson Coors.”

The plan aims to revitalize Molson Coors, achieving consistent topline growth by enabling us to: 1) Invest in iconic brands as well as opportunities to grow in the above premium space, 2) Expand beyond beer without having to sacrifice support for larger brands in the company’s portfolio and 3) Create new digital competencies for commercial functions, system capabilities for supply chain and capabilities for employees.

To make this possible, Molson Coors plans to unlock significant resources by eliminating duplication, shedding what’s not working and restructuring the organization to better succeed in today’s competitive, fast-paced environment.”

To make the new investments possible, Molson Coors plans to unlock approximately $150 million in savings by simplifying its structure. The company will move from a corporate center and four business units (MillerCoors in the U.S., Molson Coors Canada, Molson Coors Europe and Molson Coors International) to two streamlined business units – North America and Europe.

Separately, Molson Coors will continue its ongoing efforts to modernize its brewery footprint and will also invest several hundred million dollars to modernize its brewery in Golden, CO. These plans will allow for more flexible capacity to better meet demand and fulfill future growth opportunities, while increasing supply chain efficiency. The company is not using the cost savings generated from the revitalization plan to make this previously planned brewery investment possible.

“For nearly 150 years we have brewed great beers in Colorado, and we will continue to brew great beers in Colorado for hundreds of years to come,” said Hattersley “This investment will modernize the brewery to allow for more flexibility, enable us to move with pace and deliver new products to meet changing consumer preferences.”

The North America business unit will consolidate the United States, Canada and corporate center, enabling the company to move much more quickly with an integrated portfolio strategy. The Europe business unit will be structured to allow for standalone operations, developed and supported by a European-based team, including a local leadership, commercial, supply chain and support functions.

The existing Molson Coors International team will be reconstituted to more effectively grow the company’s global brands – with the Latin America business reporting into the North America business unit and Africa and Asia Pacific reporting into the European business unit. The change in structure to two business units will not be effective until January 2020 and therefore the resulting financial reporting changes will not be reflected until our first quarter of 2020 results.

According to Molson Coors, the company will focus more on opportunities beyond beer, including hard seltzers such as its new Vizzy, CBD drinks and others.

Beyond that, the company announced plans to invest “several hundred million dollars” into its Golden, Colorado production facility.

“This investment will modernize the brewery to allow for more flexibility, enable us to move with pace and deliver new products to meet changing consumer preferences,” CEO Hattersley stated in the release.

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