MillerCoors is closing its brewery in Eden, North Carolina due to sales decline as there has been a visible shift in consumer preferences from mainstream beer to crafts beer. The Eden brewery was the first to brew Miller Genuine Draft.
Besides, the company stated that the brewing facility is being closed because of its proximity to the Shenandoah brewery in Virginia, thereby making the continuation of the Eden facility redundant.
Production at the Eden brewery will be shifted over a period of next 12 months before its closure in September 2016. The brewery produces Coors Light, Miller Lite, Miller High Life and Blue Moon.
The plant closure is likely to see 520 jobs being cut.
The company stated it would assist employees with workforce training and job search, reported The Chicago Tribune.
The closure is part of the company's restructure plan under its new CEO Gavin Hattersley, who took over the reigns in June. Hattersley has made several changes including replacement of chief marketing officer and president of sales and the acquisition of craft beer brewer Saint Archer Brewing Company.
In the past seven years, MillerCoors reported that its production declined by 10 million barrels of beer and Eden plant's distribution overlapped with that of the company's Shenandoah brewery in Virginia, which is just 200 miles away, reported Greensboro.
The brewery closure comes at a time when small, independent breweries are displacing larger larger brands, reported The Wall Street Journal.
According to industry group Brewers Association, the number of regional breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs in the US rose to 3,418 last year, up by 19% from 2013.
MillerCoors has eight brewing facilities in the US.
Image: MillerCoors to shut down beer brewery in Eden. Photo: Courtesy of Paul/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
