Happy Christmas from all of us at Drinks Industry Ireland

With the busiest weekend of the year incoming, we hope the Christmas season is a good one for all

At this stage of December most publicans are starting to feel the effects of the festive toil. The Christmas season is certainly a marathon not a sprint. With today set to be the busiest day at Dublin Airport with around 93,000 passengers due to travel through the terminals, the festivities are far from over. I expect you are all braced for a bumper weekend ahead.

In preparation for the busiest weekend of the year, I hope you are all stocked up to cater for the masses. It’s interesting to note that over the Irish sea, publicans are struggling to secure enough Guinness this Christmas. A spokesperson for Diageo has blamed “exceptional consumer demand for Guinness in Britain” for the supply challenges.

The reason for the unprecedented demand? According to the food and drinks research company, CGA Strategy, the iconic Irish stout is becoming more and more popular with the younger demographic. Some are attributing this new popularity to celebrities like Charlie XCX and Kim Kardashian posting themselves on social media enjoying the Irish stout. The power of influencers is not to be underestimated! Well a rising tide lifts all boats and in London, publicans are said to be pushing their other Irish stout to mitigate against the supply constraints with much higher than normal sales of Murphy’s Irish stout being reported.

Back home, a notable  milestone this year is  Coca-Cola celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the Designated Driver campaign. The campaign is more important in its message than the actual investment. From speaking to rural publicans, a ‘Dessie’ is really the most vital customer they can have. These rural publicans often resort to driving customers home  themselves if there isn’t a ‘Dessie’ among the group. Luckily being the ‘Dessie’ is actually much easier than it used to be because there is such a range of non-alcoholic options available and such an acceptance of drinking zero-zero drinks. We can see huge investments being made by Heineken and Diageo in their zero-zero brands.  Just this week Heineken announced that Heineken 0.0% will be available on draught in 3,000 outlets by the end of this year. Heineken Ireland has invested more than €30 million in its 0.0% since its launch in 2018. And back in October Diageo announced a €30 million investment into the production of Guinness 0.0 at St. James’s Gate, bringing the company’s total investment in the non-alcoholic stout to more than €60 million since its launch just three years ago.  Diageo said it was aiming to have Guinness 0.0  in 2,000 outlets by Christmas. This category is on a constant upward trajectory. There is an appetite for zero zero drinks that can’t be ignored.

Finally, while we are all in celebratory mode, it’s hard to ignore the overriding sense of helplessness in the wider world at present. This time last year we looked with dismay at the crisis in the Middle East and Ukraine and unfortunately things are even more hopeless this Christmas with these ongoing wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan.

In his final Christmas message as President in Arás an Uachtaráin, Michael D Higgins drew special attention to the global conflicts and the “failure to achieve peace”. “When wars and conflicts become accepted and presented as seemingly unending, such as at present, humanity is the loser,” he said.

With peace at the top of our Christmas wish list, the team at Drinks Industry Ireland would like wish you all a peaceful and joyful Christmas season.

Sláinte agus Nollaig Shona Daoibh go leir,

Fionnuala Carolan

Editor

Drinks Industry Ireland