Diageo ‘better get brewing’, says Wetherspoons head amid Guinness shortage

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The head of JD Wetherspoon has told Diageo to “get brewing”, as pub chains expressed frustration at the drinks group over shortages of Guinness in the run-up to Christmas.

Sir Tim Martin, Wetherspoons founder and chair, said he would be having “a stern word” with Diageo as his pub chain struggles to get enough Guinness at some of its near-800 sites in the UK and Ireland.

“I think someone at Guinness has made a mistake . . . since we’ve worked with them for so long, we intend to forgive them. But they better get brewing,” he said, claiming that Wetherspoons is the biggest global seller of Guinness on tap with 25mn pints a year.

“I’m going to be having a stern word with them and say: ‘What’s happened to your crystal ball?’” he said.

Admiral Taverns and Amber Taverns also told the Financial Times that they were experiencing shortages of Guinness on tap after a period of unprecedented demand and castigated Diageo for not foreseeing the supply squeeze.

Guinness owner Diageo earlier this month placed limits on how much pubs could buy, citing “exceptional consumer demand”. The limits apply to pubs in England, Wales and Scotland but not those in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

The stout’s popularity has boomed over the past 18 months, driven by younger drinkers and women. Demand has also been fuelled by social media and the growing popularity of Guinness 0.0, the non-alcoholic version.

Martin said Guinness had been a “very reliable supplier” for the no-frills pub chain for 45 years, and that he could not recall them running out before.

Wetherspoons is currently preparing for a shortage by stocking up on real ales he added.

Admiral Taverns was also critical with chief executive Chris Jowsey saying it had not received any Guinness supply from its distributor since last Wednesday. Some of its almost 1,600 pubs are already completely out of stock, he added.

A surge in demand in the festive season should not have been a surprise for Diageo given its recent growth, he said.

“I don’t understand why they can’t make a sufficient [volume] . . . My understanding is there’s no shortage of Guinness in Ireland, which is where it’s made. So it sounds as if they are supplying the Irish market, but not the English market,” he said.

Admiral serves other stouts, such as Camden Stout, Genesis and Murphy’s, as Guinness alternatives and Jowsey said demand for these had increased. He does not expect to receive any Guinness this week.

James Baer, chief executive at Amber Taverns, said about 10 per cent of its nearly 180 pubs have already run out of Guinness on tap. The chain has been told by its distributor that it could have “less than half” of what they are normally supplied.

“It does reflect the success of Guinness but it’s also poor of Diageo not to have fully responded to that success in terms of supply,” he said.

Diageo said: “We have been efficiently allocating stock to all our direct customers on a weekly basis, ensuring that everyone who sells Guinness has stock allocated to them.”

In a rare bright spot during its full-year trading update in July, the group had noted that an 18 per cent rise in global net beer sales had been driven largely by Guinness, compared with a group sales decline of 1.4 per cent.

Not all pub groups are disgruntled. Simon Dodd, chief executive at Young & Co, said its pubs have on hand 90 per cent of their usual Guinness volume and the company is not experiencing any shortages. “We’re quite happy in terms of getting through the Christmas period,” he said.