It’s a very happy St. Patrick’s Day for Guinness owner Diageo

Sláinte! Today is St. Patrick’s Day, a celebration of the patron saint of Ireland that first originated in the Emerald Isle but is now celebrated everywhere from the States, to Singapore, to the UAE… not least because of the massive Irish diaspora, with ~10 million citizens having emigrated from Ireland since 1800.

But at the heart of the parades, shamrocks, and questionable leprechaun getups on display today stands one of the longest-held Irish institutions: the 250-year-old, Dublin-born stout, Guinness. March is always a shining highlight for the black stuff, as St. Paddy’s, which sees ~13 million pints of Guinness consumed, coincides with the Six Nations, a Guinness-sponsored rugby tournament — with Google searches for the drink spiking annually around this time.

However, over the last few years, Guinness has cemented its place in the mainstream, reaching regions and consumer segments previously impenetrable to it. Net sales were up 13% worldwide year over year for the six months up to December 31, 2024, according to parent company Diageo, with particularly strong bumps in North America (up 17%) and Europe (up 19%).

See the full article here.