2 minute read - 12th May 2022
Molson Coors invests £13m at Aspall Cyder factory
Molson Coors has made a £13m investment at its Aspall Cyder factory in Suffolk. A three-year renovation project has increased the site’s capacity by nearly 60% to the equivalent of 70 million pints each year – putting the brand in a position to better help its on and off-trade customers meet growing demand for super-premium cider – a category that has increased in value by 15% over the last year, according to research firm IRI.
The investment included the construction of a new fermentation building to modernise the process, and reformatting of the ‘tank farm’, where the cider is blended and stored, to create space for future expansion. Other new features include upgrades to its wastewater treatment plant to reduce the site’s environmental impact, ensuring that all waste water is cleaned on site, rather than having to be transported off site, before it is returned to the water cycle.
Molson Coors has made a £13m investment at its Aspall Cyder factory in Suffolk to increase capacity by 60% / Picture: Molson Coors
A new, dedicated weighbridge has also been installed meaning lorries transporting the cider can be precisely weighed on-site, ensuring that each lorry is loaded fully, thus reducing the number of trips needed to deliver the cider to customers. Together, the water treatment plant and weighbridge will significantly reduce freight traffic in the local area – the equivalent to taking 800 road tankers off nearby roads each year.
Henry Chevallier Guild, eighth-generation of the founding family of Aspall Cyder and brand ambassador, said: “Since Molson Coors acquired Aspall in 2018, I’ve worked closely with the management team to ensure that the passion our family established over hundreds of years for producing exceptional quality products, grounded in our local community, has continued. This investment demonstrates the scale of Molson Coors’ commitment to the Aspall brand and will ensure Aspall’s premium products have a very bright future.”
The three-year renovation project has increased the site’s capacity to the equivalent of 70 million pints each year / Picture: Molson Coors
In addition to the factory investment, a £3m marketing campaign will commence in June with a comprehensive TV, video on-demand, digital, social and out-of-home media campaign, supported with a brand-new experiential activation concept for both retail and hospitality venues.
Aspall Cyder has been produced at the original Aspall Cyder House in Suffolk since 1728.