BrewDog targets displacing Guinness as the leading supermarket stout by 2027

BrewDog, the independent craft brewer, has revealed plans to knock Guinness off its top spot as the number one stout brand.

Since launching in March 2023, BrewDog’s new stout Black Heart has achieved 13% of Guinness sales in pubs and bars and is now the UK’s #2 stout brand.

BrewDog said Black Heart has “significantly disrupted” Guinness’ 100-year-strong grip on the stout market, growing to 12.6% of Guinness sales in pubs and bars in just twelve months, with sales increasing by 66% on average each month. Over 300 independent pubs across the UK are now pouring BrewDog’s new stout, with Black Heart gaining over 500 distribution taps – displacing 200 previously held by Guinness.

Market Town Taverns, which operate around 20 sites and pubs across the UK has reported a significant increase in demand for Black Heart, seeing 11% growth on Black Heart Stout versus Guinness over St Patrick’s day and the same weekend last year.

More than a third (37%) of stout drinkers now say they have tried the new beer, according to a survey by consumer insight firm Vypr. The UK’s stout market in pubs and bars across the UK is worth £1.28 billion, accounting for 8.3% share of total beer market.

In supermarkets, off-licenses and other shops, Black Heart delivered £4m worth of sales in the last four weeks of 2023, according to Nielsen Scantrack Grocery Sales data, with purchases in Tesco equating to 20% of Guinness sales and 35% of the stout volume in Morrrisons. In total, Black Heart grocery sales now total nearly 10% (9.6%) of top selling “Guinness Draught” sub-brand according to Circana marketplace sales data.

Across BrewDog’s own bars, the craft brewer sold over 300,000 pints of Black Heart with 37,000 pints sold in its Waterloo bar alone. Black Heart was also the best-selling four-pack on BrewDog.com.

James Watt, CEO of BrewDog noted that in just a year the brand has “completely shattered the status quo” and disrupted Guinness’ iron grip on the stout market.

“Black Heart is very quickly becoming the nation’s new favourite stout and our aim is for it be the number #1 stout in supermarkets by 2027. It’s not so black and white anymore,” Watt added,

Market Town Taverns director of operations Matthew Bradley said he is delighted with how well Black Heart is performing in pubs, “which clearly shows the demand by consumers for a quality alternative”.

Bradley added: “Having worked closely with BrewDog, it certainly proves toucan play in the stout arena. There is no doubting the strength of Guinness, but we are more than happy with Black Heart and most importantly so are our customers.”

The rapid growth of Black Heart comes as BrewDog reports its strongest start to any year since it was founded, outperforming the beer category by 35% in 2024 so far. The craft brewer’s share of the supermarket and grocery market has reached its highest point in its history – with sales up by 30% in the first three months of 2024, according to Nielsen Scantrack data. Sales of BrewDog’s flagship Punk IPA are up by 10% in the past twelve weeks.

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