United States: MillerCoors may expand its Ohio brewery

US brewer MillerCoors may expand its facility near Trenton, Ohio, to keep up with demand, Business Courier of Cincinnati reported on May, 7.

Denise Quinn, brewery vice president and Trenton’s plant manager, hinted recently that a further expansion could be coming, noting that Trenton was Miller Brewing Co.’s largest brewery before a joint venture created MillerCoors in 2008. Since then, the former Coors brewery in Golden, Colo., is the combined organization’s largest producer “for now,” she said.

That might be changing soon, she said, though she declined to elaborate.

Jerry Lanich, zoning administrator for St. Clair Township, said he is not aware of any expansion plans.

The facility’s brewhouse has been running 24/7 to keep up with a production schedule that’s on pace for nearly 9.7 million barrels – 133 million cases – of beer in 2010.

The brewery’s production includes three Coors labels and numerous brands made under contract for Pabst Brewing Co. Pabst, which markets brands such as Pabst Blue Ribbon, Stroh’s, Schlitz and Colt 45, doesn’t own a brewery itself. Its beers account for between 13 percent and 15 percent of Trenton’s output, Quinn said.

Miller Lite and Coors Light are Trenton’s highest-volume products, although sales volumes of both brands declined nationally in the first quarter, according to a May 4 press release. Overall, MillerCoors’ domestic sales were off 4 percent.

12 May, 2010