Molson Coors made one business move that has other beer companies scrambling to copy

The beer industry has been getting hammered for years.

Americans just aren’t drinking as much beer as they used to.

And Molson Coors made one business move that has other beer companies scrambling to copy.

Molson Coors sees the writing on the wall

Beer companies have been watching their customer base shrink for nearly two decades.

Since 2007, beer consumption per capita has dropped nearly 25% among legal drinking age Americans.¹

That’s a massive hit for companies built around selling suds.

Molson Coors – the 251-year-old company behind Miller Lite, Blue Moon, and Coors – decided they weren’t going to sit around waiting for the beer market to recover.

They made a bold strategic pivot that’s now paying off big time.

In 2019, the company dropped "brewing" from its name entirely and rebranded as Molson Coors Beverage Company.

That wasn’t just a cosmetic change.

It was a declaration of war against the declining beer market.

The company goes all-in on diversification

Kevin Nitz, Molson Coors’ vice president of non-alcoholic beverages, explained the strategy during a recent interview.

"Expanding beyond beer provides a bit of a [safety] net for us," Nitz said. "If a consumer is going to choose not to have an alcohol-based beer today, then, of course, why wouldn’t we want to keep them in our portfolio?"²

Smart thinking.

Instead of fighting over a shrinking pie, they decided to bake a whole new pie.

The company struck partnerships with companies like Naked Life, which makes non-alcoholic canned cocktails.

They invested in Fever-Tree, the premium carbonated mixer company.

And they upped their stake in Zoa energy drinks.

The results speak for themselves.

Their non-alcoholic beverage segment – everything from energy drinks to mixers – now generates more revenue than their entire non-alcoholic beer line.

That includes major brands like Blue Moon, Coors, and Peroni non-alcoholic offerings.

Other beer giants are playing catch-up

Anheuser-Busch finally woke up and smelled the coffee earlier this year.

In January, they partnered with sports nutrition company 1st Phorm to launch energy drinks and related beverages.³

But they’re years behind Molson Coors’ head start.

The beauty of Molson Coors’ strategy is they’re using the same distribution channels they already dominate.

Bars, restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores – they were already delivering beer to all these places.

Now they’re just filling those trucks with more profitable products that people actually want to buy.

Nitz said the company is eyeing functional beverages, premium sparkling water, and ready-to-drink teas and coffees as their next targets.

"We’ve got incredibly fantastic brands in the beer space and they’re going to do phenomenal," Nitz explained. "But as the world evolves, we see more of an opportunity" in other beverage categories.⁴

Look, here’s what’s really happening

This is basic business survival 101.

When your core market is shrinking by 25% over 15 years, you either adapt or you die.

Molson Coors saw the trend coming and positioned themselves ahead of the curve.

While their competitors were still trying to convince Americans to drink more beer, Molson Coors was building relationships with energy drink and mixer companies.

The timing couldn’t have been better.

Americans are drinking less alcohol overall – a Gallup survey shows record-low numbers of people consuming any alcohol.⁵

But they’re still buying beverages.

They’re just buying different beverages.

Energy drinks, premium mixers, non-alcoholic cocktails – these categories are exploding while beer stagnates.

Nathan Greene, a senior consultant at S&D Insights, noted that Molson Coors "had little choice but to enter beverages beyond alcohol."

The company needed to "keep pace with changing consumer trends and ensure its distribution partners receive enough product volumes and margin growth opportunities," Greene explained.⁶

Here’s the brilliant part – they’re using the same infrastructure that made them successful in beer.

Same trucks, same relationships with retailers, same shelf space.

They just swapped out declining products for growing ones.

That’s not just smart business.

That’s survival.

With $11.6 billion in revenue, Molson Coors proved that American companies can adapt and thrive when they read the market correctly.⁷

The jury may still be out on whether they want to be primarily a beer company or a beverage company going forward.

But one thing’s certain – they’re not going down with the beer market.

And their competitors are scrambling to figure out how to catch up.

¹ Christopher Doering, "Molson Coors is brewing a future beyond the beer tap," Food Dive, September 8, 2025.

² Ibid.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Ibid.