It said this was in order to prioritise employee safety and support its off-trade retail and wholesale customers.
It said it was now producing a “consolidated range” to focus on a smaller group of its core products. This would see it temporarily prioritise its most in-demand and popular lines, including Carling, Coors Light, Doom Bar, Aspall, Rekorderlig and Cobra, while ensuring that pack formats and SKUs available were suitable for all of its customers.
Safest environment
The brewer said this was to ensure that its products were brewed and packaged in the safest possible environment during the coronavirus outbreak. It added this would help to reduce operational and supply chain complexity for its customers.
Kevin Fawell, off-trade sales director, said that in the face of this “unprecedented challenge”, the company’s priority was protect the health, wellbeing and livelihoods of its people.
“We recognise that consumers may miss some of our brands for what we hope will be a short period of time, but believe they will understand that protecting our employees by asking vulnerable groups to remain at home is our priority at the moment,” said Fawell.
Simplified range
“With a simplified range, we’re working hard to make sure all of our customers can stock our most in-demand brands in a variety of formats.”
Fawell added that it remained fully committed to all of the brands and pack formats across its portfolio in the long-term.
Molson Coors said that all employees who were able to work from home had been doing so since 16 March, and all those in vulnerable groups had been asked to isolate themselves at home. It added that it was committed to ensuring all employees remained on full pay throughout this period.
Last year, Molson Coors offered a lifeline to the 900 workers set to lose their jobs at Kerry Foods’ Burton-Upon-Trent ready meals factory as it prepared to close.
Its brewery in Burton Upton Trent, which produces three million pints of beer a day also appeared on the BBC Two’s Inside Factory series.
