Ireland: Diageo invests in alcohol-free Guinness production

Alcoholic drinks firm Diageo has announced a €25 million ($28 million) investment in a new facility at its St James’s Gate site in Dublin, Ireland to boost production of alcohol-free stout under the Guinness 0.0 brand.

The production facility comprises six 500,000-hectolitre vessels with a total capacity of 90 million pints. The two-storey building houses a cold filtration system that removes the alcohol.

Commenting on the investment, Diageo Ireland managing director Barry O’Sullivan said: “Guinness 0.0 is now the number one selling non-alcoholic beer in a four-pack format in both Ireland and Great Britain. This expansion in production capacity at St James’s Gate is a testament to the quality of Guinness 0.0 and the growth of the non-alcoholic category, as consumers look for more choices on different occasions”.

“We expect the growth of Guinness 0.0 to be another export success story for Ireland”, he added.

The investment will boost production nearly four-fold to meet growing demand in the UK, Europe, US, Canada, Middle East, and South Korea.

Global production of Guinness 0.0 reportedly accounts for 10% of all Guinness trademark sales in Ireland.

Source: FoodBev / Business Plus