Molson Coors sees legalised pot as risk to its business

Molson Coors, headquartered in Denver and Montreal, became the latest publicly traded company to mention the growing legal marijuana industry in its annual financial report. The latest filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission indicates that the brewer is closely monitoring the impact of legal cannabis sales on its customers’ pocket money and, eventually, on sales for its beer.

Molson Coors is the number two brewer in both Canada and the United States. Canada will legalise recreational cannabis this September. In the US, pot is legal in several states already, including California and Colorado, where Coors is based.

The latest filing indicates that the company views legal cannabis as a possible “risk factor” to its business, suggesting that “although the ultimate impact is currently unknown, the emergence of legal cannabis in certain US states and Canada may result in a shift of discretionary income away from our products or a change in consumer preferences away from beer.”

In their filings, stock market-listed companies need to list risk factors. They can vary considerably and may include everything from environmental and climate-related aberrations to resource shortages and political policy shifts.

Boston Beer and Craft Brew Alliance have also suggested that the legalisation of recreational marijuana could be a potential risk factor for their sales.

In fact, it is possible that some beer companies will follow Constellation Brands, the number three brewer in the US, and partner with companies in the cannabis industry to try to capitalise on the mushrooming new market.