Anheuser-Busch InBev has revealed plans to shut a distribution facility belonging to its US arm Aneheuser-Busch, in Medford, Massachusetts.
The move puts 193 jobs at risk.
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The Bud Light and Corona brewer filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) with the government of Massachusetts last week saying it will close part of its wholesale production later this year.
The notice said its AB One distribution location in Medford would lay off 193 workers over the first two weeks of November.
According to local reports from MassLive, the site is being shut permanently, and operations will be transferred to a local wholesaler.
In a statement sent to the news agency, Simon Wuestenberg, US chief sales officer at AB InBev, said: “Anheuser-Busch’s owned distribution operations are a strategic part of our business as they enable us to test and learn, develop our people, and ultimately serve as stronger partners to our independent distributors.
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By GlobalData“We continuously assess our operational footprint to ensure our entire system is set up for long-term success. The transition of these operations will ensure that Anheuser-Busch and our network of independent distributors will continue to drive the growth of our iconic portfolio of brands while providing world-class service to our retail customers across Massachusetts.”
MassLive‘s reporting suggested that the brewer’s beer distribution operations for Boston will transition to Quality Beverage, which is owned by wholesaler Martignetti Companies.
Earlier this year, the Bud Light brewer revealed it was shutting the doors of two of its US breweries, Wynwood Brewing in Miami, Florida, and Golden Road Brewing in Sacramento, California.
The brewing major’s US performance has been on an upward curve after its controversy and backlash around the group’s megabrand Bud Light over a tie-up with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April last year.
In the group’s recent first-half results earlier this month, AB InBev’s margins expanded in all five regions, especially in North America as the groups restored profitability in the US.
CEO Michel Doukeris told analysts at the time that trends in the US look promising and the beer industry is “growing value over the years”.
He added: “If you go much longer in terms of the analysis than just like one year or two years, you see that there [are] different developments over time. There was a time in which beer was growing more, then growing less, then coming back to growth, then growing a little bit less, then accelerating again…
“So, I think that the industry is moving in a good direction.”
