3 minute read - 19th April 2024
Molson Coors to invest over £100m in UK production network
Molson Coors Beverage Company has announced plans to invest more than £100m in its UK brewery and beverage network over the next five years. A programme of significant investment and infrastructure upgrades will improve capabilities and introduce greater efficiencies across its entire UK network. It will also play a crucial role in supporting the brewer’s commitment to reach carbon net zero in its direct (scopes 1 and 2) emissions in the UK by 2035.
Specifically, the plan includes investments to improve brewing capacity and packaging capability at its Burton-on-Trent and Tadcaster breweries. In Burton, the programme of improvements includes the installation of a new 24-tonne high-speed 120,000 cans per hour filler, while it also intends to upgrade the packaging keg line at both Tadcaster and Aspall Cyder House. It will also see investment in the Sharp’s Brewery in Rock, Cornwall, to support new and existing cask ale brands such as Doom Bar, Solar Wave Hazy and Twin Coast.
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Molson Coors is to invest more than £100m in its UK brewery production network over the next five years to improve efficiency, boost capacity and improve sustainability / Picture: Molson Coors
The need for additional capacity and capability is linked to the continued strong performance across its product range, with premium and world lager brands in particular seeing strong growth – most notably the rise of Madri Excepcional – alongside Carling’s continued role at the heart of the brewer’s portfolio.
The planned investment follows on from a £13m investment in increasing capacity at Aspall Cyder House, which concluded in 2022, a £21m investment in a new canning line in Burton in 2021, and an ongoing £10m investment in its Tadcaster brewery which began at the end of last year.
Fraser Thomson, chief supply chain officer for Western Europe at Molson Coors Beverage Company, said: “This plan is an investment in our future, giving our people and our brands the tools to fulfil our potential in the UK market while making strong progress against our sustainability targets. As a business, we have continued to invest in the UK throughout the challenges caused by the pandemic and this further investment underscores our long-term commitment to the UK and the local communities where we operate. This is a landmark moment in our history as we evolve to meet the demands of our growing portfolio and bring new innovations in the years ahead, while continuing to reduce the impact our business has on the environment.”
The investment will benefit every site in the company’s UK network, spanning from Cornwall to Suffolk and from Burton to Tadcaster / Picture: Molson Coors
In 2021, Molson Coors became the first major UK brewer to switch to 100% renewable electricity. All the electricity used to produce the more than one billion pints that Molson Coors makes each year in the UK comes from 22 wind turbines at the Tween Bridge wind farm in South Yorkshire, less than 40 miles from the Tadcaster Brewery.
The ongoing investment in Molson Coors’ brewery and beverage network also follows the success of its carbon recovery project at its largest UK brewery in Burton, which has been almost entirely self-sufficient in CO2 production since 2018, and its latest carbon recovery and reuse plant installation at its Tadcaster Brewery.
The company’s global sustainability commitments include reducing carbon emissions across its direct operations by 50% by 2025. Having hit this target four years ahead of schedule, the UK business is aiming to accelerate its pathway to net zero and reach net zero scope 1 and 2 emissions across all UK sites by 2035.
