Molson Coors makes £25m investment in Burton brewery

Molson Coors is making a £25million investment in its Burton brewing facility.

The investment includes the addition of a new hard seltzer canning line and upgrades to its beer and cider packaging facilities.

The new canning line will package Molson Coors ' four per cent ABV hard seltzer brand Three Fold. The launch of the fruit, alcoholic drink was supported by a £5million marketing campaign, the largest investment Molson Coors has ever made into a new drinks product.

Phil Whitehead, managing director of Molson Coors Beverage Company in Western Europe, said: “The hard seltzer and ready-to-drink (RTD) categories present a huge opportunity for growth. The RTD category is the fastest growing in alcohol globally and, while it is early days, we 're seeing strong indications that hard seltzers will prove as popular in Western Europe as they have in the US.

“This investment will allow us to scale up at speed and help our customers to rapidly respond to that growing demand from consumers in this quickly emerging category. ”

Work to install the new hard seltzer canning line will begin later this year and the first cans are due to be produced from the new line in late spring 2022.

Work to upgrade beer and cider packaging lines will also begin later this year.

Molson Coors has invested more than £100 million in its Burton brewery over the past decade, where the company employs more than 1,000 people.

Work began in 2012 on a £75 million project to redevelop the 34-hectare brewery estate, including the introduction of new brewing technology, to improve the site 's capacity, productivity and sustainability.