Photo by Adam Ryan Morris.
Even though a survey of more than 5,000 beer drinkers declared Blue Moon the most popular beer in the country, it was reported today that MillerCoors, which owns Blue Moon, will be cutting more than 300 positions due to weak sales. In the survey, Sam Adams took the No. 2 slot and Budweiser claimed the bronze.
According to AdAge, in a statement to beer distributors CEO Tom Long and President of Sales and Distributor Operations Ed McBrien attributed the declining sales to “‘period of rapid and disruptive change’ in the U.S. beer industry, including ‘consumer fragmentation, continued high unemployment and increased competition from wine and spirits.'” The cuts will come from all divisions of the company.
Even though the AdAge account says that of the layoffs 200 will be salaried employees and 160 will be open salary positions, it did not say if any of those cuts would come from the Milwaukee-area offices.
In August, writer Rich Rovito spoke with top MillerCoors execs for “The Brew Crews,” which details the marriage of the brewing giants as well as its sales blues.
Update, 4:01 p.m. :
A spokesperson for MillerCoors says 27 employees from the Milwaukee campus will be laid off.
This post has been updated with additional information.
Correction: MillerCoors will be laying off 200 employees and eliminating 160 currently unfilled positions, which would make 360 cut positions, not 300 cut employees. We regret the error.
