Premium
Vertical Integration in the Malting Barley Industry: A “Silver Bullet” for Coors?
Author(s) -
Boland Michael A.,
Brester Gary W.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
applied economic perspectives and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.4
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 2040-5804
pISSN - 2040-5790
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9353.2006.00287.x
Subject(s) - silver bullet , business , agronomy , agricultural economics , economics , biology , materials science , metallurgy
The Coors Brewing Company owns a single‐site, integrated malting facility and brewery in Golden, Colorado; a second brewery in Memphis, Tennessee; and a mixing facility in Elkton, Virginia. Coors operates a research and development program that breeds barley varieties suitable for malting at the Golden site. Coors contracts with 900 growers in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming for approximately 160,000 acres of malting barley. This case study is designed for senior‐ and graduate‐level courses in agribusiness management. The case relates three theories of vertical coordination to Coors' decision to contract 100% of its malting barley requirements.