In the days leading up to Christmas, stout-lovers in the UK were left reeling from a shortage of Guinness so severe that some pubs were forced to ration pints of the “black stuff” as taps began to run dry.
Supermarkets remain at risk of running out due to customers’ stockpiling, according to reports, while the maker of the popular stout, Diageo, has sent for back-up Guinness reserves from Ireland.
Now it can be revealed that criminals appear to have gone to even greater lengths to beat the drought, with a heist that exacerbated the shortage.
A truck carrying 400 50-litre kegs of the stout – equivalent to 35,200 pints – disappeared from a logistics hub near Daventry, in Northamptonshire in mid-December.
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Diageo, which owns Guinness, declined to comment on the alleged theft.
But sources familiar with the incident confirmed that a subcontractor working for a company in the Diageo supply chain had reported the theft to the police.
[ London pubs turn to ration cards amid Guinness shortageOpens in new window ]
The Guinness shortage has been fuelled by its newfound popularity with gen Z, many of whom like to pose, pint in hand, on social media. Diageo, which brews the stout at its St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin, has intensified its marketing efforts and worked with influencers over the past few years to raise Guinness’s profile.
In 2007, a van drove into the St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin and escaped with 180 kegs of Guinness, 180 kegs of Budweiser and 90 kegs of Carlsberg, the equivalent of 40,000 pints, also in the run-up to Christmas.
The apparent theft continues a spate of recent crimes in which edible delicacies have been pilfered.
In December, a Michelin-starred chef issued a public appeal to thieves who stole his van containing 2,500 pies to “do the right thing” and give them to people in need.
Two months earlier, detectives investigating the theft of 22 tonnes of cheese from Neal’s Yard Dairy arrested a 63-year-old man on suspicion of fraud by false representation and handling stolen goods.
The London cheese specialist had delivered 950 wheels of cheddar – reported to be worth up to £300,000 – to an alleged fraudster posing as a wholesale distributor for a big French retailer.