Comment: Molson Coors must help Cobra break out of curry house

If Cobra can't crack the pub market now, it never will (see linked stories).

The announcement of a joint venture between Molson Coors and Cobra Beer has brought a long-running drinks saga to a close. There can now be no excuses if Cobra fails to do what those responsible for the brand have been trying for some time: break out of the curry house and into the mainstream.

Carling brewer Molson Coors has the mighty distribution network to do it, and the advantage of being able to sell the brand as part of a portfolio. The fact that it sees the short-term for Cobra being in its Indian restaurant heartland does not mean that it does not value the opportunities that the pub market represents.

What it does mean is that it has learned the lessons from Cobra's over-ambitious push into the pub trade. Karan Bilimoria's company made lots of noise last year when Cobra launched a big-spending push for pub distribution.

It achieved 20 per cent year-on-year volume increases with a move that saw it aggressively target pubs through a major marketing campaign, but at what cost? The initiative coincided exactly with the start of financial difficulties that saw banking consultants and eventually administrators brought in. It seems like Cobra broke the bank, over-estimating pub demand for the beer and failing to take into account the looming recession.

It is likely to be a different story now. Molson Coors looks set to take a more conservative and softy-softly approach.