Canned Guinness sold out

Supply bottlenecks due to Corona

15-Mar-2021 - Ireland

Ireland fans look forward to St. Patrick's Day despite lockdowns. But in German drinks shops the Guinness shelves are often empty. Is the "black gold" having a harder time finding its way to Germany because of the Brexit?

Dublin (dpa) - Those who want to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at home this Wednesday (March 17) because Irish pubs are still closed may have problems buying Guinness. The shelves of German beverage stores are currently lacking the "black gold from the Emerald Isle". Especially the brand Guinness Draught is hard to get in Germany at the moment. There are supply bottlenecks, Birte Kleppien, spokeswoman for the Radeberger Gruppe KG, which is responsible for Guinness distribution, told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

But she added that the new transport routes, which have been giving Britain a wide berth since Brexit, were not to blame. "The Brexit issue has played out well," Kleppien said. "The bottlenecks result - like so many dislocations in demand and sales - from the Corona pandemic." Guinness, as well as Kilkenny, are brands strongly anchored in the restaurant trade, he said. Beer fans wanted them freshly tapped. As a substitute, many prefer Guinness Draught from a can. This is provided with a pressure ball, which is responsible for the typical foam crown of the stout. This is a circumstance that "challenges the production planning", says Kleppien.

Another obstacle, according to Guinness parent company Diageo, is that some parts needed for packaging Guinness Draught are in short supply because of the pandemic. Bars around the world are also closed. This has "shifted consumer demand for Guinness to retail", Diageo said.

This is also the case in Ireland itself. Following a decision by the Irish government, pubs there have closed completely since 15 March 2020. Only gastro pubs that also serve food were allowed to open for a short time in summer 2020. Currently, the country is in the highest lockdown level. A cautious easing of pandemic measures is not expected before April.

Despite the Europe-wide shift in alcohol sales to retail, there was a two per cent drop in exports of Irish food, drink and horticultural products last year compared to 2019, according to the Irish Food Standards Agency Bord Bia. This included losses in the alcohol sector, which was hit hardest, it said.

Irish producers saw a 19 per cent drop to €1.3 billion. Whisky exports decreased by more than 200 million euro.

Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.

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