The company said it was communicating closely with customers and managing the situation, however operators across the pub trade have expressed concerns as to whether supplies will hold out in the Christmas period.
A spokesman for Diageo said: “Over the past month we have seen exceptional consumer demand for Guinness in GB. We have maximised supply and we are working proactively with our customers to manage the distribution to trade as efficiently as possible.”
The company said the sudden spike had happened so quickly there is no publicly available data from CGA to quantify it yet, but others in the trade have pointed to elements like the Autumn Rugby Internationals, which will have impacted on demand.
According to available data from CGA, the volumes of keg Guinness in October were up 20% year on year, but this was before the most recent demand spike took place.
And according to the most up-to-date data from CGA’s Managed EPOS database, for the four weeks to 02/11 has Guinness in 18.8% growth vs last year, but the latest data for November was not available yet.
Diageo said it was communicating with customers and pub companies have reported discussions are taking place, but concerns remain high that supplies might be short at critical periods in the festive season.
A pubco source confirmed they were aware of the situation with Guinness. They added the problem appeared to be one of fulfilment rather than production, but said it would be the operators and pubcos problems if customers were unable to get Guinness in the pub at Christmas.
He said they were in discussions with Diageo and communicating the issue with their pub operator partners but the situation remained fluid and concerning.
Guinness sales have remained strong over the last year, outstripping the rest of the beer market. Back in July this year, Diageo reported overall net sales in Great Britain were up 5%, primarily driven by the strong performance in Guinness.