Molson launches joint venture

Molson Coors Canada is seeking to disrupt the country’s beverage industry by entering into a joint venture to develop non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused products that could give it a leg up as more countries legalize the narcotic.

The business arm of Molson Coors Brewing Co. said Wednesday the venture with The Hydropothecary Corp., now branding itself as

HEXO, will be a stand-alone startup with its own board and management team, with Molson Coors Canada having a 57.5% interest and HEXO holding the balance.

“While we remain a beer business at our core, we are excited to create a separate new venture with a trusted partner that will be a market leader in offering Canadian consumers new experiences,” said Molson Coors Canada president and CEO Frederic Landtmeters. Although the impact of cannabis on beer consumption is unproven and difficult to evaluate until legalization takes place, the brewer believes consumer acceptance of cannabis and cannabis beverages is going to increase.

“We believe, potentially, it’s got really significant potential and we’re going to learn a lot and if other markets start to open up in due course and this becomes federally legal, then we’ll be in a good place at that point in time,” Molson Coors CEO Mark Hunter said during a conference call about its secondquarter results.

The hundreds of active molecules in the marijuana plant can be transformed into various products, said Hexo CEO Sebastien St. Louis.

“We’re going to start with THC but also CBD and then CBG. There’s a lot of these molecules that could do different things, so it’s not only about disrupting in the psychoactive market but also in going into wellness markets, appetite control and all sorts of other interesting markets,” he said in an interview.