The battle between MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch that’s been brewing for months now includes accusations of corporate espionage.
In a court filing, St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch accuses of MillerCoors brewmaster Josh Edgar of texting with current AB employees about the company’s secret recipe for brewing Bud Light and Michelob Ultra.
Before starting at MillerCoors, Edgar brewed for Anheuser-Busch at their brewery in Cartersville, Georgia. Court filings indicate that Edgar has maintained a personal relationship with several employees at the brewery and in the weeks surrounding Anheuser-Busch’s ad campaign accusing MillerCoors of using corn syrup in the brewing process, had asked employees about the use of enzymes in Bud Light or whether Busch beer used dextrose and other subjects.
Anheuser-Busch calls their brewing process, “highly confidential,” and said their ingredient list is, “proprietary and trade secret information.”
In an email with the Journal Sentinel, MillerCoors spokesman Adam Collins said the company, “respects confidential information and takes any contrary allegations seriously.”
The two beer giants have been locked in a court battle since shortly after Anheuser-Busch debuted their ad campaign on Super Bowl Sunday. In May, a judge denied AB’s motion to dismiss the case and barred the brewery from using the words ‘corn syrup’ in any advertising without adding context around the phrase.