GUINNESS CONTINUES TO fall out of favour with international drinkers – despite the iconic stout making a comeback at home after half a decade in the doldrums.
Multinational drinks company Diageo, which owns the Guinness brand, today said its worldwide Guinness sales went down 4% for the last six months of last year when compared to the same time in 2013.
The company sold 10 million casks of the Irish stout in 2014, compared to 11.1 million over the 2011-12 financial year.
However Guinness sales in Ireland were up for the first time in more than six years, according to Diageo’s half-yearly update today.
The company’s CEO, Ivan Menezes, said: ”I am pleased that we have returned Guinness to growth (in Ireland) through good execution and the on-trade.”
During the period, the company also launched its Guinness blonde American lager which Menezes said “had a great reception” in the US.
We have also complimented the brand credentials of Guinness with another offering – Guinness 1759, which is focused on the fine dining and gifting opportunity,” Menezes said.
Goodbye Bushmills and other news
Diageo, whose brands also include Johnnie Walker whiskey, Smirnoff vodka and Tanqueray gin, said its total sales and profits were both down when compared to the same period in 2013.
Diageo took in £5.9 billion (€7.9 billion) for an operating profit of £1.67 billion (€2.24 billion) for the six months.
Europe is worth about 25% of the company’s sales with the largest share, 32%, coming from North America, where it sells spirits including the Captain Morgan brand of rum.
The company, which was formed in 1997 when Guinness and UK firm GrandMet merged, offloaded its Bushmills Irish whiskey business in November as part of a swap deal with Mexico’s Jose Cuervo for the Don Julio tequila brand.
Menezes said Bushmills was “a good brand”, but getting rid of it was the “right strategic decision” as it concentrated on fast-growing markets like India.
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