The brazen booze run appears to have been driven by a trend among thirsty Generation Z pub-goers wanting to pose with a pint of Guinness in hand on social media
Booze bounders swiped 35,000 pints of Guinness with Britain gripped by a nationwide shortage. A truck carrying 400 kegs of the Irish stout vanished from a depot as pubs ran dry across the country.
Police are hunting the culprits. The raid may not have triggered the supply crisis that gripped the nation over Christmas and the New Year but it did not help. Some landlords are still battling for stocks after a sudden surge in demand among young drinkers caught brewers by surprise.
The run appears to have been driven by a trend among Generation Z pub-goers wanting to pose with a pint of Guinness in hand on social media. Many pubs started rationing vastly reduced supplies while some ran out altogether. Supermarkets struggled to keep it on the shelves as customers started stockpiling cans.
Maker Diageo sent for back-up reserves from Ireland. But the great Guinness heist heightened the crisis. The consignment of 400 50-litre kegs – the equivalent of 35,200 pints – disappeared from a logistics hub near Daventry, Northants, in the run-up to Christmas.
Police are probing the theft of a vehicle containing the stout from a sub-contractor of Diageo’s logistics supplier. It is believed the kegs – which can have a shelf life of up to 10 months – are still missing. Diageo, which brews the stout at its St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin, has worked with influencers over the past few years to raise Guinness’s profile.
Demand for the drink exploded after it started trending worldwide. It is the latest in a long line of large scale food and drink thefts across the UK. Last month 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.
In October police investigating the theft of 22 tonnes of cheese from London-based Neal’s Yard Dairy arrested a 63-year-old man on suspicion of fraud by false representation and handling stolen goods.
Diageo declined to comment.
Northamptonshire Police had last night (thurs) responded to requests for comment.