Molson Coors Beverage Company set to boost Canadian hard seltzer production
The expansion is part of a $100m investment in the company's Canadian hard seltzer portfolio and is mostly allocated for the Toronto Brewery.
Molson Coors' said its Canadian hard seltzer portfolio launch is off to a strong start since hitting shelves in March. Coors Seltzer became the top-selling seltzer in one of the biggest beer retailers in Ontario, followed by Vizzy in the second position.
"Hard seltzers are fairly new in Canada, but Vizzy and Coors Seltzer have already proven to be hits," says Frederic Landtmeters, president of Molson Coors in Canada.
"Quadrupling our production capacity will allow us to make a lot more of our highly sought-after hard seltzers and better equip us to meet consumer demand well into the future."
The company said it expects to be producing and co-packing Vizzy and Coors Seltzer, both malt-based and spirit-based, in-house at the Toronto brewery as early as winter 2022, and will continue to assess capabilities over time as product innovations and offerings come to surface.
Molson Coors' investment in its operations will include: expanding production and shipping capacity for hard seltzers by approximately 300%; upgrading technical fermentation and packaging systems; installing new filtration technologies to get the cleanest seltzer possible and maximize flavor; and installing a new can line, a flavor laboratory and a blender in the Toronto Brewery for packaging seltzers and other beverages.
This marks the latest move by Molson Coors to grow its portfolio of above premium hard seltzers. In 2020, Molson Coors invested to expand its US hard seltzer production capacity by approximately 400%. That year, the company's share of the US hard seltzer segment doubled, and it has grown already in 2021.
In March, the company launched Three-Fold Hard Seltzer in the UK and last week it launched WAI Moment in several Central and Eastern European markets.
