Franciscan Well in Cork was an early craft brewery
Beer giant Molson Coors has announced plans to cease production of the Franciscan Well beer brands early in the New Year and close the brewery in Cork.
Molson Coors bought the craft brewery back in 2013, at the start of a wave of investment into small and craft beer businesses across the country.
At the time the Canadian giant said its plan was to expand the Irish brand including into international markets.
Announcing the planned closure the group said that plan had failed.
“Unfortunately, despite great work from the team, in the face of a challenging craft beer category and other economic pressures impacting our customers and consumers, it has not been possible to grow the brands to the level needed to sustain the brewery as part of our UK and Ireland production network,” they said.
“This decision has not been taken lightly, and we are providing our 15 impacted employees with every support,” Molson Coors said.
The group said it has entered into a consultation process with our impacted employees and will seek redeployment wherever possible.
“We understand the special place the Franciscan Well brewery and brands have in the local community and remain open to conversations with interested parties about the future of the brewery and brands,” they said.
The potential closure of the brewery in Cork comes as the craft beer sector generally has come under strain.
In July Killarney Brewing and Distilling Company (KBD) announced the closure of its two plants in Co Kerry, following an examinership process that failed to find a rescue plan.
The decision to close Franciscan Well comes after Molson Coors struck a deal over the summer with Heineken Ireland, to take on the Irish rights to distribute Molson Coors’ beer brands.
Before the deal to take on the distribution of Molson Coors’ brands, Heineken Ireland already had the rights to one of the Canadian-American group’s most well-known brands, Coors Light.
