Russia: Coors Light to be brewed again, this time under license

The American-Canadian Molson Coors Brewing Company has signed a contract with the Moscow Brewing Company (MBC) regarding bottling the Coors Light brand in Russia, Kommersant reported this week.

The contract between the two companies stipulates that the beer will be bottled at the MBC facilities outside Moscow, with a license valid until 31 December, 2025.

Coors representative in Russia, Evgeniy Ikonnikov said that the company’s main target is Moscow region, though Coors Light will be sold via the entire MBC’s distribution network in Russia.

Co-owner of MBC, Evgeniy Kashper, said the joint investment in marketing may reach US$10 million in the first three years.

This is the second attempt by Molson Coors to enter the Russian market after a failure in 2005.

“Under that scheme, we didn’t have a license but just bottled and distributed without a say in the brand’s marketing,” Kashper said.

The brand was produced at that time by Kashper’s Ivan Taranov Breweries, which was later acquired by the Dutch Heineken. The production of Coors Light was stopped after the acquisition.

Now the brand aims at reaching annual sales of about 200 thousand hl in five years (about 0.2% of the market).

Moscow Brewing Company held 0.4% of the Russian beer market (in money terms) last year, Business Analytika data show.

23 June, 2010