Non-alcohol Guinness sees surge in sales

INCREASING numbers of Irish drinkers are embracing non-alcohol products, as new volume sales data from Guinness show that Guinness 0.0 on draught has surged by almost 50% over 12 months.

The figures up to the end of February confirm the major growth of non-alcohol beer in recent years, and the specific success of Guinness 0.0 since its introduction to the Irish market just over two and a half years ago.

And to support the increasing demand and to keep pace with evolving consumer habits, Guinness has been accelerating the rollout of draught Guinness 0.0 across the country. Historically, non-alcohol beers made up just 1.5% of the market. But Guinness 0.0’s remarkable growth is seen in the rise of its production to about 8.5% that of regular Guinness. The increased demand, distribution and availability of Guinness 0.0 is being met by sustained investment by St James’s Gate including a new €25million production facility for Guinness 0.0 announced last year. This new brewhouse is serving up almost 1.8million pints of Guinness 0.0 every week – compared to 21million pints of regular Guinness – for the domestic and international markets, which reflects the growing demand for non-alcohol drinks in Ireland, Europe, Britain, the Middle East, Asia, and America.

However, Alcohol Action Ireland’s Dr Sheila Gilheany said: ‘Zero-alcohol products are still a very small fraction of the overall alcohol market – around 1.5%. So it’s a very tiny proportion of the market. And Guinness are clearly seeking to increase their overall sales of everything and will find ways around that.’