Molson Coors ploughs £16m into Aspall Cyder

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Huge investment: the Aspall Cyder House upgrade has increased manufacturing capacity by almost 60%

Molson Coors has invested £16m into Aspall Cyder through a three-year renovation project to the cider-making facility in Suffolk and a first-ever TV advert campaign.

A £13m investment into the Aspall Cyder House has taken three years and has increased the site’s capacity by almost 60%, which is the equivalent of producing 70m pints each year.

The move has included construction of a new fermentation building to modernise the process, and reformatting of the ‘tank farm’, where the cyder is blended and stored, to create space for future expansion. Other new features at the Cyder House include upgrades to its waste-water treatment plant to reduce the site’s environmental impact, ensuring that all waste water is cleaned on-site, rather than having to be transported away, before it is returned to the water cycle.

£3m media campaign

A new, dedicated weighbridge has also been installed meaning lorries transporting the cider can be precisely weighed on-site, ensuring that each lorry is loaded fully, thus reducing the number of trips needed to deliver the cider to customers. Together, the water treatment plant and weighbridge will significantly reduce freight traffic in the local area – the equivalent to taking 800 road tankers off nearby roads each year.

Meanwhile, Molson Coors Beverage Company has put £3m into a TV, video on-demand, digital, social and out-of-home media campaign that will start in June 2022, supported with a brand-new experiential activation concept for both retail and hospitality venues.

Exciting prospect

Molson Coors marketing controller for cider Phil Pick said: “Aspall is one of Suffolk’s most well-known exports. It’s been produced at the same site for nearly 300 years and our investment in the Cyder House will ensure this continues for many more to come.

“Coupling the brand’s provenance with a multimillion-pound TV-led marketing campaign is a truly exciting prospect. It will further raise Aspall’s profile and help capitalise on the growth in popularity of premium ciders, that our newly rejuvenated Cyder House is ready to meet.”