Molson Coors is growing in every region, every channel and every major retailer in America, chief commercial officer Michelle St. Jacques shared during opening remarks Tuesday of the beverage company’s distributor convention in Orlando.
“For the first time in a very, very long time, Molson Coors is coming to this convention with true momentum,” she said. “And I mean game changing momentum.”
The momentum follows Molson Coors’ biggest competitor, Anheuser-Busch InBev, struggling amid a conservative-led boycott that has seen off-premise sales of its biggest brand, Bud Light, decline between -20% and -30% weekly since April.
The biggest beneficiary of Bud Light’s losses have been Coors Light and Miller Lite, which are growing volume by double digits, St. Jacques said.
A year ago Bud Light was bigger than the combination of Coors Light and Miller Lite; now, that combination is 50% larger than Bud Light.
In fact, Q2 was the “single best quarter” in the company’s history since the formation of the Molson Coors joint venture in 2005, St. Jacques said.
“We are winning,” she said.
The “we” was collective, including the company’s distributor partners. St. Jacques shouted out those growing sales revenue by more than +25% this year, as well as the 230 distributors who are growing by more than +10% this year, which played on a Star Wars-like crawl.
“99% of our Molson Coors distributors are growing their sales revenue this year,” she said. “Now you know what I mean by game changing freaking momentum.”
The added sales have manifested in 12,000 tap handles in bars and restaurants, and fall shelf resets at more than 40 of the company’s top off-premise retailers, St. Jacques said.
In those shelf resets, Molson Coors is snagging “the lion’s share of our competitor’s space,” St. Jacques said.
U.S. sales Brian Feiro noted that Molson Coors is “driving revenue growth across all chains, and we’re driving revenue growth with all customers.”
The wins haven’t been limited to Coors Light and Miller Lite. St. Jacques shared that:
- Coors Banquet is growing by more than +30%;
- Molson Coors is the second biggest major brewer in flavored adult beverages, growing share behind the Simply Spiked flavored malt beverage (FMB) brand;
- Simply Peach was the industry’s No. 1 new alcoholic beverage in Q2;
- The company’s portfolio of economy brands – Keystone, Miller High Life, Steel Reserve and Icehouse – are growing share of the industry as Busch Light trends down;
- Both Miller High Life and Keystone are growing share and volume;
- Peroni is growing volume double digits;
- And Blue Moon remains the top-selling craft beer, with new plans behind the brand for 2024, including the launch of a non-alcoholic version of the Belgian-style white.
Still, St. Jacques acknowledged there is work to be done. However, she said the company wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for the revitalization plan the company implemented in 2019.
Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley also pointed to the revitalization plan in his remarks, crediting it with establishing the foundation for this year’s success. Molson Coors is now on track to deliver a second consecutive year of top and bottom line growth, he added.
“Just over three years after we launched our revitalization plan, there is no doubt and there is no debate, we turned around Molson Coors, and I’m so proud of what we have accomplished,” he said.
Although Hattersley said the company and its wholesalers should be proud of their success, they shouldn’t be satisfied as there’s room to grow.
“Let’s keep building on the strength of our core,” he said. “Let’s keep continuing to grow our above premium portfolio. Let’s expand even further beyond beer. Because when we do, we can accelerate our growth.”
Hattersley was succinct in how they get there in 2024: “acceleration.”
“That’s what we’re after, and that’s what our plans are designed to deliver, acceleration for our business, and for yours,” he said.
”We can’t take this growth for granted,” St. Jacques implored. “We can’t get complacent. We need to stay focused on keeping this hot streak going.”