Coors Brewing Company is the third-largest brewer by volume in the United States, with an approximate 11% market share. CBC produces, markets, and sells the Coors portfolio of brands in the United States and its territories. The U.S. business also includes Coors brand volume, primarily Coors Light, that is sold outside of the United States and its territories, primarily Mexico and the Caribbean, as well as sales of Molson brand products in the United States.
Brands sold in the United States include: Coors Light®, Coors®, Coors® Non-Alcoholic, Blue Moon® Belgian White Ale and seasonal Blue Moon brands, George Killian’s® Irish Red® Lager, Keystone®, Keystone® Light, Keystone® Ice, and Zima® XXX. We also sell the Molson family of brands in the United States.
In the United States, beer is generally distributed through a three-tier system consisting of manufacturers, distributors and retailers. A national network of approximately 550 independent distributors purchases our products and distributes them to retail accounts. We estimate that approximately one-fourth of our product is sold on-premise in bars and restaurants, and the other three-fourths is sold off-premise in liquor stores, convenience stores, grocery stores and other retail outlets. We also own three distributorships which collectively handled approximately 2% of our total U.S. segment’s volume in 2006. Approximately 44% of our volume passes through one of our 11 satellite re-distribution centers throughout the United States prior to being sold to distributors. In Puerto Rico, we market and sell Coors Light through an independent distributor. Coors Light is the leading beer brand in Puerto Rico. Sales in Puerto Rico represented less than 5% of our U.S. sales volume in 2006. We also sell our products in several other Caribbean markets. Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma, S.A. de C.V., a subsidiary of FEMSA Cerveza, is the sole and exclusive importer, marketer, seller and distributor of Coors Light in Mexico.