UK: Guinness becomes the biggest selling ale and stout brand in the UK

Guinness has overtaken John Smith’s to become the biggest selling ale and stout brand across the UK, The Sun reported on December 19.

With demand soaring, sales of Diageo’s traditional Irish ‘Black Stuff’ have grown by £3.3 million in the past year, taking its value to around £69.1 million, figures by Nielsen reveal.

With Guinness taking the top spot, sales of Heineken’s John Smith’s dwindled by 2.1 per cent to £68.5 million in the year to October, Nielsen’s report shows.

Diageo said Guinness had succeeded in tapping into the country’s growing taste for craft alcohol by emphasising the Irish brew’s “story, provenance and ingredients.”

Guy Dowdell, off-trade sales director at Guinness-owner Diageo, said: “Consumer excitement for products created with craftmanship and character has brought a new energy into the world of beer.”

Hitting back, a spokesman for John Smith’s told The Sun Online: “Any beer lover will know that stouts and classic ales are very different drinks.

“John Smiths’ is still the UK’s biggest selling ale by a mile, loved by millions of drinkers across the country.”

In 2015, John Smith’s suffered a 5.7 per cent drop in UK sales, wiping £4.3 million off its value, Nielsen’s data reveals.

Craig Clarkson, Heineken’s off-trade marketing director, said the clawback in sales was the result of “increased investment, an updated look, new ads and a digital campaign.”

In the ale and stout market as a whole, while Guinness and John Smith’s took the top and second spot in the sales stakes, Old Speckled Hen came third, with sales topping £46 million.

Hobgoblin took fourth spot in the sales stakes, with total sales of £22 million. With £1 million fewer sales than Hobgoblin, Sharp’s Doom Bar took fifth place.

In the spirits sector, recent data from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association revealed that UK gin sales reached the £1 billion mark for the first time this year.

With its popularity surging, sales of gin in pubs, bars and restaurants increased by 19 per cent in the past year, the WSTA said.

In supermarkets, shops and off-licences, gin sales rose by 13 per cent to around £437 million.

Earlier this month, a report revealed that the cost of Champagne has gone down by 7 per cent since June.

Embroiled in a price war, some of the country’s biggest supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose and Morrison’s, have been applying deep discounts to their Champagne in the run up to Christmas.

19 December, 2016