By Ralph Tathagata
Recent data from Diageo Ireland show that consumers increased sales of non-alcoholic Guinness 0.0 across can, draught and micro-draught cans in pubs, hotels and restaurants across Ireland by 35 per cent in the year to March. Diageo’s data corroborate Kantar’s recent data showing that 6.2 per cent of all Irish households purchased non-alcoholic drinks in January this year.
Also Read:Global non-alcoholic beverage market to grow by 8.6%
According to the giant brewer, Guinness 0.0 will take up about 12% of all production at St James’s Gate brewery, Ireland, in the near future.
Diageo noted that the growth will continue into 2026 when the additional €30 million investment it announced late last year into Guinness 0.0 production capacity comes on stream, and added that it has seen a 161% lift in sales of the brand on draught between June 2022 and March 2025.
Diageo specifically stated that the investment will enable the St James’s Gate brewery to brew 176 million pints of Guinness 0.0 a year for international and domestic markets.
Also Read:Investors express willingness to tap into Nigeria’s non-alcoholic beer market
Guinness 0.0 entered Irish venues on draught in July 2021, and the product now appears in 4,000 on-trade establishments across Ireland.
Ross Bissett, on-trade commercial director at Diageo Ireland, said the growth of the product demonstrates the “enormous appetite” consumers have for “greater choice in what they are consuming”.
Also Read: Brewers record 31.17% increase in alcoholic, non-alcoholic drink consumption in Nigeria
Cathal Sheridan, who represents the seventh generation of his family to run Sheridan’s Bar and Restaurant in Milltown, Co Galway, said he has seen “huge demand” for Guinness 0.0, with customers “making the most of being able to have a few pints and be able to drive home”.
However, speculations continue over whether non-alcoholic Guinness will enter the Nigerian market any time soon, and how the product will fare among Nigerian consumers.
It is worth recalling that Tolaram Group acquired Diageo’s 58.02% shareholding in Guinness Nigeria in September 2024, making Tolaram the majority shareholder. Although Diageo will continue to license and receive royalties for the production and distribution of Guinness and other locally manufactured brands in Nigeria, observers are yet to see whether Tolaram’s capacity for new business models in the Nigerian market can influence the introduction of Guinness 0.0.
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