Midwest Premium 3.25 Times Higher in Just 1 Year

The "Midwest Premium" – an extra regional cost added to the base London Metal Exchange price of aluminum to cover local delivery, logistics and trade tariffs – has more than tripled in a year, Tracey Joubert, CFO, Molson Coors' Beverage Co., told the Barclays Consumer Packaged Goods Conference.

That takes a big chunk out of Molson Coors' three-year, $450 million cost-cutting program. To try to offset that Joubert said, the company will continue to look at productivity capabilities that it's building into its breweries that it hasn't done before, whether that be flavor capabilities or non-alcohol capabilities.

If the Midwest Premium remains elevated, "pricing is something we would lookat very carefully, market by market, brand by brand." In some markets, it's likely Molson Coors would be the first to increase prices. In others "we want to make sure we understand what our competition is doing."

Mix will also play a role because it's such a big factor in driving the top line, she said.