Molson Coors cuts 11 economy brands — Is Joe Sixpack an endangered species?

Molson Coors is taking an ax to its blue-collar beer lineup, eliminating 11 economy brands as it puts more emphasis on higher-priced beverages, including hard seltzers and non-alcoholic drinks like a new energy drink it is marketing with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The plan, outlined today on the brewer’s second-quarter earnings call, follows moves by other consumer goods marketers to prune their product lines as they simplify their business during the pandemic. Molson Coors’ move follows a longer-term trend of brewers putting more focus on higher-priced brands that typically bring better profit margins. At the same time, younger drinkers have moved away from classic cheap beer brands and towards new products like hard seltzers. Subscribe to Ad Age now for the latest industry news and analysis. “Consumers are getting a taste for more premium products. Even Joe Sixpack is converting to craft beer in a lot of cases,” says Duane Stanford, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest. He also points out that young people are drinking less, and “when they are drinking they like low calories, but they also like different fruity flavors.” Molson Coors’ cuts include Milwaukee’s Best Premium; although the brand’s ice beer and light beer varieties will survive. Also on the chopping block is Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor Ice, but the core Mickey's brand, known for its green, beehive-shaped bottles, will remain. The rest of the cut list includes Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve, Keystone Ice, Hamm’s Special Light, Keylightful (a fruity line extension of Keystone Light), Icehouse Edge, Magnum, Miller High Life Light, Steel Reserve 211 and Olde English HG 8000. While the brands are rarely featured in expensive marketing campaigns, they have often enjoyed on-the-ground support at retail and from local distributors. The cuts are part of a broader pullback that includes the elimination of some 100 stock-keeping units. (Known as SKUs, the term refers to various packaging and flavor varieties of brands.) High-quality journalism isn’t always free. Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight. On the earnings call, Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley said the cuts would “improve supply chain flexibility for our more profitable priority brands, enhance our innovation efforts, enable us to better focus resource and ensure dependable and on-time shipments for our distributors.” Still, he added that “while economy brands shave typically not been a focus of the investment community, distributors who sell brands like Magnum and Mickey's are going to feel it when they are discontinued.” The brewer will try to ease the pain by partnering its local sales teams with distributors on exit plans, he noted. The brewer’s quarterly results show how its higher-priced products are increasingly driving profits. It reported that its “above premium brand volumes reached a record-high portion of our U.S. portfolio compared to any prior quarter since the creation of the MillerCoors joint venture in 2008.” Some of the growth is coming from brands that don’t have alcohol, such as ZOA, a new energy drink whose bakers include the actor Johnson. The brand—marketed as a “better-for-you” drink with natural ingredients such as turmeric, camu camu and acerola cherry—has “already surpassed our expectations for the entire year,” the brewer said in its earning statement. Molson Coors’ quarterly results exceeded expectations with net sales up 13.7% when accounting for currency fluctuations, and earnings per share of $1.58. In North America, shipments grew 1.2%. On the earnings call, Hattersley touted the performance of the brewer’s lineup of hard seltzers, which include Vizzy and Topo Chico. Still, even the hard seltzer category, which has slowed from its initial astronomical growth, is not immune to cutbacks. The brewer last month said it would discontinue Coors Seltzer in the U.S. after less than one year in the market after disappointing sales results. The seltzer slowdown is “no surprise to us,” Hattersley said, noting that the drinks are not as widely distributed in bars, which have been re-opening as pandemic restrictions ease. “We do believe that there will be a shakeout in the future as many brands struggle to succeed in the crowded space,” he said. Still, he noted that “there really isn’t anything else in the beer space that is growing that quickly [as hard seltzers]. It’s good for the beer category and it’s good for us.” ~ ~ ~CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the Mickey’s cut. Only the ice beer will be eliminated.

Molson Coors cuts 11 economy brands — Is Joe Sixpack an endangered species?

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