Molson Coors Beverage Co has sold off its stake in the Truss Beverage Co joint venture, removing cannabis drinks from its “total beverage company” strategy.
Just under four years ago, the group switched out ‘Brewing’ for ‘Beverage’ in its name. CEO Gavin Hattersley said at the time the move symbolised that “the reality is our future will expand beyond [beer]”.
Preceding the name change, Molson Coors partnered with Hexo Corp in August 2018 to form Truss. The JV had a portfolio that included Verywell, a soft drink with a hemp-derived CBD base that debuted in Colorado in 2020 and extended to 16 other states a year later.
Late last week, however, and following the acquisition of Hexo by Tilray Brands in June, the two partners confirmed the sale of Molson Coors’ 57.5% stake in Truss to Tilray. The transaction’s financial details were not disclosed.
“The cannabis beverage market hasn’t grown to the industry’s initial expectations,” said Molson Coors’ chief communications officer, Adam Collins. “We decided to sell our portion of the Truss Canada JV and exit this space as we turn our focus to other segments with stronger growth potential.
“We’ve made strong progress in our transformation to a total beverage company over the past three years, with one of the hottest brands in whiskey, a dynamic energy drink and some of the top new flavoured alcohol beverages in North America. And, just as we’re strengthening our core beer business, we’re going to continue building our presence beyond the beer aisle with winning brands in growing categories.”
The purchase marks Tilray’s second in drinks this month after the company snapped up eight businesses from Anheuser-Busch two weeks ago. CEO Irwin Simon said the acquisitions will see Tillray “leverage our leadership position, wide distribution network and portfolio of … beverage and wellness brands” once “federal cannabis legalisation” has been secured in the US.
