Diageo has announced a £21.4 million investment in a new facility at its St. James’s Gate site in Dublin, Ireland, for its non-alcoholic Guinness range amid reports of growing demand for no- and low-alcohol beer.
The facility will enable the company to boost production of Guinness 0.0 by around 300 per cent, helping to meet “growing domestic and global demand” for the alcohol-free stout launched two years ago, state recent reports.
All global production of Guinness 0.0 takes place at St. James’s Gate, with the main export markets including the UK, Europe, US, Canada, the Middle East and South Korea.
The investment comes amid forecasts that the non-alcoholic alternative will account for 10 per cent of all Guinness trademark sales in Ireland in the coming years.
Managing director of Diageo Ireland, Barry O’Sullivan, said: “Guinness 0.0 is now the number one selling non-alcoholic beer in a four-pack format in both Ireland and Great Britain.
"This expansion in production capacity at St James’s Gate is a testament to the quality of Guinness 0.0 and the growth of the non-alcoholic category, as consumers look for more choices on different occasions. We expect the growth of Guinness 0.0 to be another export success story for Ireland.”
It comes days after a report claimed that demand for no- and low-alcohol alternatives has continued to climb throughout the year, despite January traditionally setting the benchmark throughout the year. Supermarket Tesco has claimed that sales of no and low beer are 25 per cent higher in June than January. This is at a time when the price of a pint of lager in the on-trade has risen by more than 50p within the space of a single year, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In pubs, sales are up 23 per cent on a year ago, and nearly nine in 10 have at least one option, the British Beer and Pub Association said.
Brian McLister
