Pubs have warned that limiting Guinness could ‘damage’ their business

“If I couldn’t make it into this it would probably cripple me.”

This is what Steven Crosby says about the present Issues affecting Guinness supplyAs the owner of the Liffey, an Irish pub in Liverpool, Guinness is his top seller.

Steven typically receives 12 50-litre barrels per week from his main distributor. But he says he was told on Wednesday that he could only get one barrel this week due to allocation limits imposed by Diageo, which owns Guinness.

Landlords across the country say their distributors are allocating them less Guinness than usual to ensure there is enough stock to meet demand over Christmas.

“Over the past month we have seen exceptional consumer demand for Guinness in GB,” a Diageo spokesperson said. “We have maximized supply and we are actively working with our customers to manage distribution to trade as efficiently as possible.”

Enda Murray, owner of three pubs in London, says his supplier has limited the supply of Guinness to one or two casks per pub – just 10% of what he needs. He says he has managed to raise some money from another supplier and should have enough goods “for the next week or two”.

Pub managers say they are struggling to ensure supply at reasonable prices.

“It’s hard work,” says Shawn Jenkinson, operations manager at Katie O’Brien. He says he’s not sure whether the chain’s seven Irish pubs will have enough Guinness to last the weekend.

He says other operators he spoke to are “really fully prepared”, as some ran out of Guinness on Friday night.

Some landlords say pubs are making “panic buying” at Guinness. “It’s made the market even worse,” says Patrick Fitzsimons, landlord of the floundering Fullback in London’s Finsbury Park. He says his pub has a small cellar which means he needs frequent deliveries – he can’t hoard goods like others.

Landlords say the exclusivity of Guinness means it is difficult to provide a substitute.

“Guinness has a very niche market,” says Enda. “Not many pubs sell other stouts.”

Some pubs say people were stocking Murphy’s as an alternative to Guinness, but claim this has also led to Murphy’s allocation being limited.

Guinness sales are increasing in 2024. The volume of Guinness sold in casks increased by more than a fifth between July and October compared with the same period last year, offset by a slight decline in overall beer sales, according to Food & Food figures. Beverage research company CGA.

While a Diageo spokesperson said There has been “extraordinary demand” over the past three weeks, Enda noted that Guinness sales at his pub have increased significantly since the pandemic.

“We’ve seen a massive decline, especially among young people, in drinking Guinness,” he says. He attributes this to “the tendency to compartmentalize the drink, all the Guinness influencers, it seems like everyone is a Guinness influencer. Wants to be”.

“Splitting the G” is a practice whereby drinkers first try to take a large sip of Guinness so that the stout falls halfway down the “G” in the word “Guinness” on the pint glass.

and as More people are drinking non-alcoholic beerSales of the zero-alcohol beer Guinness 0.0 are also strong – it now accounts for about 3% of total Guinness volume globally.

The limits on Guinness supplies come at a particularly busy time of year for pubs, with large crowds turning out for Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Liffey’s Steven says that if pubs run out of Guinness, he expects people to go “from bar to bar” looking for places that still stock it.

Still, not all homeowners are concerned about supply restrictions. Ashley English, one of the landowners at King’s Head in Docklow, Herefordshire, says his wholesaler had not imposed any restrictions on him because he only orders one or two barrels a week anyway. He says he’s “not too worried” about running out.

And Brian FitzSimons, landlord of Skehans in Nunhead, London, says he is not worried about selling as he has several suppliers and was already able to secure some.

The BBC understands the company is still operating at 100% production capacity and the allocation limit affects Great Britain.

A spokesperson for Diageo told BBC News NI that it would carry out its planned deliveries in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland “without any disruption”.

Faltering fullback Patrick says he is worried he will run out of Guinness by Wednesday, but says he has managed to secure a supply of Camden Stout as a substitute.

“Hopefully customers will realize there’s more to the market than just Guinness,” he says.