Molson Coors Restructures to Ramp Up Decision-Making, Fund Tech Upgrades
Rahul Goyal took up the mantle of president and CEO of Molson Coors Beverage Co. in October, and now he is laying out the company's transformation roadmap, which includes operational and cost restructures.
The transition comes at a volatile time for the company, which, like most consumer goods enterprises, is suffering from headwinds such as costly tariffs, a financially constrained consumer and socio-political pressures.
Learn more: Molson Coors names Rahul Goyal CEO
"In the U.S., these macro impacts have had a disproportionate effect on the lower-income and Hispanic consumer," said Goyal during the company's recent call with investors.
As a result, Molson Coors looks to strengthen its portfolio, focusing on strong, scalable brands but also growing economy beer brands such as Miller High Life and Keystone Light.
"This entails prioritizing our investments to build on the strength of our core and economy beer portfolios and to transform our above premium beer and 'beyond beer' portfolios," he said, adding that the company will also lean on strong momentum with the Banquet brand and "bridge the sizable distribution gap" with Coors Light.
Molson Coors will look to grow its "beyond beer" category, focusing on building scale for the non-alcoholic segment through its acquisitions, such as Fever-Tree, and infrastructure investments in people and systems to support the development of this business over time.
This, paired with commercial investments based on local market dynamics and portfolio priorities, will accelerate decision-making speed and introduce agility into operations through optimized marketing capabilities, according to Goyal.
Creating a Leaner Organization
The revamped business approach includes a corporate restructuring plan that will eliminate 400 positions from the Americas business unit to "create a leaner, more agile organization," he said.
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The cost savings are set to fund investments like marketing for key brands, commercial capabilities, changes in the supply chain, and technology that will boost productivity and efficiency. They will help support baseline technology needs with new capabilities around AI.
As Molson Coors further invests in its capabilities, it will be focused on setting clear KPIs and metrics to make sure the investments are providing strong ROI from a lens of productivity, efficiency, or to enable top and bottom line growth, he said.
"We have a strong foundation in our infrastructure, whether it's breweries, whether it's supply chain," said Goyal. "But it is an area that we need to make sure we are keeping up with, either on the commercial side, whether it's on the technology side, optimizing our brewery footprint in the best possible way, and making sure we can meet some of the needs of our new capabilities."
