EUROPE – Beverage manufacturing giant, Molson Coors has launched The Beverage Hub – a new division within the company’s European business unit, aimed at growing the company’s presence in the fast-emerging ready-to-drink (RTD), adult soft drinks, and premium spirits sectors.
The new division, led by beverages director Jack Daniel, will focus on building independent partnerships with new brands in the above sectors, supporting their growth through Molson Coors’ established on and off-trade networks across Western Europe.
The move follows the company’s re-brand to Molson Coors Beverage Company in 2019, as it looks to broaden its portfolio beyond beer and cider.
Jack Daniel said the new division represents “the next phase of our already established wholesale offer to the independent on-trade, where we provide a range of beverages outside our own beer and cider heartlands.”
“The creation of the Beverage Hub is our response to the growing number of consumers reaching for ready-to-drink options, premium spirits and aspirational adult soft drinks and opening up those growth opportunities for our customers,” Daniel added.
Distribution deal with leading European Brands
The launch of the new division comes at a time when Molson Coors has entered into exclusive distribution partnerships with three brands; Jimmy’s Iced Coffee, Lixir Drinks, and Tarquin’s Gin and Twin Fin Rum from Southwestern Distillery.
Under the distribution partnership, Molson Coors will aid UK-based Jimmy’s Iced Coffee with distributing its entire plastic-free range.
Jimmy’s co-founder Jim Cregan said the partnership will give the brand “the chance to reach places, fridges, and people we’ve not been able to due to our limited resources as a small business”.
The company will also support London-based Lixir Drinks, which creates mixers using natural ingredients, with its rollout across the UK, following its success in Northern Ireland in 2020.
“It’s great to be partnering with Molson Coors to get our products into the hands of consumers across the UK and Ireland,” said Matt Mahatme, co-founder of Lixir Drinks.
Meanwhile, Molson also inked a long-term partnership with Cornish spirits company Southwestern Distillery to distribute its products (including Tarquin’s Cornish Dry Gin, Tarquin’s Rhubarb and Raspberry, Tarquin’s British Blackberry Gin and Twin Fin Rum) across the UK and Western Europe.
The deal will allow Southwestern to grow “further into UK retail and expand export beyond our existing 25 international markets,” said Tarquin Leadbetter, Southwestern’s founder, and master distiller.
In addition to the three new partnerships, the Hub’s portfolio also includes hard seltzer brand Three Fold and partnerships with Bodega Bay and Miami Cocktail Company, which were announced last year.
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