[imagesource:pexels]
There’s a global crisis brewing.
Guinness sales have spiked in recent months, leaving many South Africans desperately searching the corner of Tops’ fridges for a four-pack of the G.
While overall beer sales were slightly down this year, the volume of Guinness consumed was up more than a fifth according to the people who count our pints. Predictably, much of the blame can be laid at the feet of those pesky influencers once again.
Diageo, the company that owns Guinness, has been upping its marketing efforts and working with influencers over the past few years to try and raise Guinness’ profile. This led to the ‘splitting the G’ trend, whereby drinkers try to take a big enough first swig of Guinness so that the stout comes to halfway down the “G” in the word “Guinness” on pint glass.
The drink has been rising in popularity with women and young people, and recent rugby internationals have put a strain on supplies. And as bad as it is here, imagine the horror the Brits are living through after Guinness limited supplies to pubs in Great Britain due to “exceptional demand” over the past three weeks.
Pubs in Ireland will however not have any limits placed on the amount of Guinness they can order in the run-up to Christmas. Guinness accounts for about one in every three pints sold in Ireland, so nobody wants to kick off a war again.
@niallhoran Splitting the G with the most Irish non-Irish man I know, @Ed Sheeran #TheShowLiveOnTour #OnTour ♬ Irish Jig – Irish Pub Society
Global sales of the black stuff are about 1.8 billion pints a year, but some landlords say they are “panic buying” Guinness right now. Part of the reason for the panic in the pubs is that the uniqueness of Guinness means it’s hard to provide an alternative.
Guinness has a very niche market, and once you’ve gotten a taste for it, a Castle Milk Stout just won’t suffice. For now, all we can do is wait for a new trend to distract social media.
In the meantime, if you manage to get a few pints of Guinness, it’s okay to not share with your buds around a braai. They will understand.
[source:bbc]
