Molson Coors latest beer maker to consider adding potentially lucrative pot buds to suds
Another major beer maker is looking at ways to enter the marijuana business.
Denver-based Molson Coors Brewing Co. is weighing whether to expand into the sector with Canada poised to legalize the drug for recreational use this October. The brewer is said to have held talks with several Canadian-based marijuana companies to invest and collaborate in cannabis-infused beverages in an attempt to halt declining beer sales, according to a Friday report from BNN Bloom- berg, citing several unidentified people familiar with the matter.
It has spent the past six months engaged with up to four pot firms, including Aphria Inc. and Aurora Cannabis Inc., about plans to enter the space, according to the report.
“We have assembled a team in Canada to actively explore the risks and opportunities of entering the cannabis space in that market, where it will be federally legal by this fall,” chief executive Mark Hunter said at an investor presentation on June 6. Spokesman Colin Wheeler declined to say Friday whether it was in talks with specific cannabis companies.
“We’ve said specifically we’re interested in the infused beverage space and we do intend to enter that market,” Aurora Cannabis’s chief corporate officer Cam Battley said by phone. The company declined to comment further.
Aphria could not be immediately reached for comment.
The speculation comes the same week as Canada gave the final approval for recreational sales to begin on Oct. 17. While edibles, including beverages, won’t be legal initially, companies are already jockeying for market share due to the potentially lucrative opportunity. There’s been an “explosion of interest” in edibles and six out of 10 consumers will probably choose to consume edible products, according to a June 5 report from Deloitte.
Molson would have meaningful exposure to the North American pot market as the No. 2 beer seller in both Canada and the U.S., Cowen analyst Vivien Azer said in a note. Bloomberg