UK: Guinness 0.0 becomes UK’s biggest alcohol-free beer

Guinness 0.0 has surpassed Heineken 0.0 to claim the title of the UK’s biggest alcohol-free beer, The Grocer reported on July 31.

The booze-free tipple has seen its off-trade sales rise by nearly 110% to £33.2m in the past year [NIQ 52 w/e 13 July 2024]. Over the same period, Heineken 0.0 sales have only climbed by 4.2%, to £28.3m.

According to NIQ, Guinness 0.0 overtook Heineken 0.0 at the end of March, based on 52-week rolling data, and has maintained its lead since.

Rounding out the top five alcohol-free beers in UK retail are Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0%, Corona Cero and Beck’s Blue.

A focus on product quality, marketing activations around rugby’s Six Nations Championship and Diageo’s work with retailers to grow the awareness of alcohol-free had contributed to Guinness 0.0’s rise, Diageo GB managing director Nuno Teles told The Grocer.

“It’s the combination of a beautiful liquid, beautifully served in a nice branded pint glass around the sports viewing occasion,” he said.

Despite a growing number of consumers wanting to moderate their alcohol intake, many remained unaware of the existence of non-alcoholic propositions in off-trade settings, Teles claimed.

Therefore, Diageo had partnered with several retailers, including Waitrose, to grow the shelf space and visibility of alcohol-free in store, Teles said.

“Increasing the visibility at the point of purchase is essential to drive sales,” he added.

Having recently signed a deal for Guinness 0.0 to become the official non-alcoholic beer of the Premier League, Diageo was targeting further growth for the extension via the “sports viewing” occasion, Teles said.

“The big insight that we got from consumer mapping is that – when it comes to 0.0 – it is about wanting to belong to the group,” he said.

While watching live sport, those opting not to drink “don’t want to be left out” or to “choose something that on a social basis doesn’t look correct”, Teles said.

“That’s the reason why we believe sports viewing is one of the main occasions where we still have room to grow,” he added.

Guinness 0.0 was first launched in 2020, but swiftly recalled after the discovery of a “microbiological contamination” that could have rendered some cans unsafe to drink.

It was subsequently re-released in August 2021.

Elsewhere, Diageo’s sales in Great Britain grew by 5% in the 12 months to the end of June, driven by the growth of Guinness. The brand’s sales climbed by 30% across the on and off-trade.

Baileys, meanwhile, recorded “high single-digit” growth on the back of a “very strong activation platform” around the Eurovision Song Contest, Teles said.

Globally, however, Diageo booked a 0.6% declined in organic net sales revenue, as downtrading in Latin America and the Caribbean and North America hit demand for its posh spirits brands. Organic operating profit also declined by $304m, or 4.8%.

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