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 Molson Coors’ 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. At its Burton Brewery the programme of improvements has included the installation of a brand new 24-tonne high-speed 120,000 cans per hour filler and upgrades to the packaging Keg line at both Tadcaster Brewery 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.

The need for additional capacity and capability is linked to the continued strong performance of Molson Coors’s iconic brands, 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 the £13m investment in increasing capacity at the 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, 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.”

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.

Molson Coors’ 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.