Diageo is to invest €30 million in its St James’s Gate brewery to cater for the soaring demands for non-alcoholic Guinness.
Sales of Guinness 0.0 on draft increased by almost 49% last year, which is believed to be part of a wider trend towards non-alcoholic drinks.
Guinness has been brewed at St James’s Gate in Dublin for almost 300 years, but over the past three years there has been a major shift in the production of Irelands most famous export.
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More resources are now being poured into the making of non-alcoholic Guinness as demand for the product has exceeded all expectations.
The new investment will see about 14% of production at St James’s Gate now devoted to the non-alcoholic Guinness product, giving the facility the ability to produce about 176 million pints of 0.0 in a year.
It doubles the capacity from 2023 and brings to €60 million the total invested in the production of the drink.
Aidan Crowe, Operations Director for Beer at Diageo Ireland, said the production of non-alcoholic Guinness is expected to continue to grow, but that the company has stopped trying to predict at what rate
He said: “When we started producing Guinness 0.0 first, we had capacity for about 40 million pints annually and we felt that was going to be sufficient to work through the first five years.
“But after about 18 months it became very clear that that wasn’t going to be sufficient. We made our next investment and that trebled the capacity but that investment, we’ve only been producing with it for about nine months, and already it’s full. We’re absolutely full.
“And hence the next investment, which is to double that capacity again. That will take us to about 14% of overall site output, but we’ve given up trying to predict how much 0.0 we might ultimately need to produce.
“So I think one thing we’re pretty certain about is this isn’t the end of our investment in 0.0. We’re definitely going to be investing more, we’re definitely going to need more capacity beyond what we’re announcing today.”
Guinness 0.0 production ‘very complex’
Non-alcoholic Guinness is made in the same way as Guinness draught and then the alcohol is removed through a process called cold-filtration which takes a number of days.
Guinness 0.0 generally retails at the same price as the alcoholic version and while Diageo says it does not set the retail price, the process in making the non-alcoholic version is more complex.
Diageo Ireland Marketing Director Hilary Quinn explained: “We don’t set the retail price for any of our products, but what I can tell you is the production process to brew Guinness zero is a very complex one.
“What we do is we brew Guinness in the way that we normally would, and then we remove the alcohol.
“But the process to remove the alcohol is a lot more complex and takes a lot longer.
“So it’s a lot more involved process for us here at the brewery to brew Guinness zero.”
Ms. Quinn said the growth of the product is not just in Ireland .
She said: “The last 12 months has grown over 50% in the trade across pubs up and down the country. And this is a trend we’re seeing internationally.
“We’re seeing huge growth in North America. We’re seeing huge growth in Great Britain. Guinness there is already the number one non alcoholic product in Great Britain as well.”
Overall there was an 18% increase in non-alcoholic drinks in Ireland last year and Dublin’s pubs say they are seeing a shift towards more moderate drinking.
Daniel Smith, Senior Bar Man at Grogan’s Castle Lounge on South William Street, said customers of all ages are increasingly opting for non-alcoholic drinks.
He said: “You get everything from, stout, lager, cider, wine, spirits like non alcoholic gin, you get a wide array of products people are looking for really.
“Primarily young people, but we do see the older generation as well, particularly with the Guinness 0.0, we see a lot of kind of the older generation drinking that.
“Maybe its for health reasons, or they’re just a bit conscious about what they’re drinking, about how much alcohol they’re taking in.”
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has welcomed the investment, describing it as a “welcome boost” to the area surrounding St James’s Gate.
He said it followed the increased demand for non-alcoholic beer “as more and more consumers move towards moderation”.
