Molson
Molson Inc. was
Canada's largest alcoholic beverage brewer with sales of more than $2 billion
CAD in
2003, and 3,800 employees working at five breweries. In February,
2005, it completed a merger with
Coors to form
Molson Coors Brewing Company. At the time of the merger, Molson controlled about 45% of the
Canadian beer market and ties for first place with
Labatt.
The company was founded in
1786 by
John Molson, making it North America's oldest brewing company, and
Canada's second oldest company after the
Hudson's Bay Company. Molson's first brewery was located on the
St. Lawrence River in
Montreal.
Today Molson is the 13th largest brewer in the world. Molson's brands in Canada and the
United States include Molson Canadian, Molson Canadian Light, Molson Ice, Molson Golden, Molson Export, Molson Dry, Molson XXX, Stock Ale, Pilsner, Carling, Tornade and Calgary. In
Brazil, Molson owns partial stakes in the Brazilian brands
Marca Bavaria and
Kaiser, after acquisitions and disposals in
2000,
2002 and
2006. As of January 2006, Molson has a 15% stake and a board seat in
Cervejarias Kaiser the company responsible for
Kaiser.[
1] Molson also brews
Fosters Lager under licence for the United States and Canadian markets.
In addition to alcoholic beverages, Molson owns a 20% stake in the
Montreal Canadiens, who historically have been the
NHL's most successful hockey team. They also sponsor the
Ottawa Senators,
Toronto Maple Leafs,
Edmonton Oilers,
Calgary Flames,
Vancouver Canucks and
Detroit Red Wings.
In
2000 Molson attracted a great deal of media attention with its "
I Am Canadian"
advertising campaign. The original sixty second commercial of
Joe Canada tried to define what it means to be Canadian based on many light-hearted and stereotypical images of Canada. This campaign generated a huge amount of publicity and received a Bronze Lion award at the international advertising awards in
Cannes,
France. Since then, Molson has dropped their old advertising agency Bensimon Byrne in favour of another Toronto based shop, Zig.inc.
On
July 22,
2004 the company announced it would be merging with American brewer
Coors, to create the world's fifth-largest brewing company. The anticipated name for the company is Molson Coors Brewing Co. Molson shareholders voted on the proposed merger on
January 28,
2005, and were heavily in favor of the merger. The new company will be controlled 55 percent by Molson shareholders. Molson Coors executive offices are located in Montreal,
Quebec and
Denver,
Colorado. The Canadian operational headquarters are located in
Toronto,
Ontario, with the U.S. operational headquarters located in
Golden,
Colorado.
United Kingdom headquarters are in
Burton upon Trent, and the
Brazilian headquarters are in
São Paulo.
On
March 14,
2005, the
Molson Coors Brewing Company announced that it was retiring its "
I Am Canadian"
advertising slogan for the new tagline
"It Starts Here".[
2]
On
March 21,
2005 the company introduced Molson Kick, Canada's first
caffeinated beer, which is targeted towards the younger crowd. Like
Anheuser-Busch's B-to-the-E beer introduced in the
United States, it contains
guarana, a natural source of caffeine.
Molson bought
Creemore Springs Brewery on
April 22, 2005.[
3]
Molson is part-owner of
Brewers Retail Inc., operator of The Beer Store retail chain, whichhas an over 90% market share of Ontario beer sales.
A
residence hall and football stadium at
McGill University are named after the Molson family.The
Molson Prize is awarded for distinguished service to the
Arts and
Social Sciences.
The
Concordia business school is called the John Molson School of Business.
My beer has been universally well-liked beyond my most sanguine expectations.- John Molson, 1786
Molson XXX is the greatest beer ever created - Anonymous, 2002
It Starts Here - Current Molson Canadian tag line, 2005
|
Molson Dry bottles in refrigerator. Molson Dry is among the most popular beers in Canada. |
|
Molson Export Beer Bottle Label |
*
Molson Canadian*
Molson Canadian Sub-Zero*
Molson Canadian Light*
Molson Canadian Ice*
Molson Canadian Cold Shots 6.0*
Molson Brador*
Molson Dry*
Molson Special Dry*
Molson Special Dry Cold Shots 6.5*
Molson Bohemian*
Molson Exel*
Molson Export*
Molson Golden*
Molson Ice*
Molson Kick*
Molson Standard Lager (only available in Manitoba)
*
Molson Stock Ale*
Molson Ultra*
Molson XXX*
Carling Black Label*
Old Style Pilsner*
Rickard's Red*
Rickard's Pale Ale*
Rickard's Honey Brown*
Laurentide (Label of the "Molson Canadian" in Quebec)Outside of
beer and
ice hockey, the Molson family were, until
1925, involved in banking too, through
Molson Bank.
*
Canadian beer*
Labatt*
Welcome to Molson / Bienvenue sur le site Molson (Corporate Site)*
It Starts Here (Commercial Site)*
Molson Canadian Beer Site (Commercial Site)
