New Guinness glass revealed

Diageo has improved its branded glassware for Guinness for the first time in a decade, but the tulip shape remains.

Diageo has restyled its branded Guinness glass for the first time in a decade.

The drinks company said it had not gone for a revolutionary new shape as the existing tulip shape was "popular with Guinness drinkers" but it had tweaked the design to make it taller, slimmer and easier to stack. The new glass also has a thicker base for safety, better grip for consumers and improved head retention, said marketing manager Paul Cornell.

"The design evolves the iconic tulip shape to provide a distinctive, contemporary look and feel, which in tests performed really well with consumers," he said. "It has the look and feel of quality that drinkers expect from Guinness and sets it apart from other glassware without moving away from a design that works."

The new glass will be available to pubs and bars from the middle of this month and will be rolled out to gradually replace the old design.

New branded glassware can result in a 4% increase in sales on average, said the company.