Diageo betting on Guinness to help offset spirits woes
Company has high hopes for zero alcohol Guinness
But price hikes could open door to rivals

LONDONDUBLIN, Nov 18 Reuters Diageo needs its leading stout beer Guinness to keep growing fast and is pushing a zero alcohol alternative. But price hikes are turning off some UK customers and opening the door to rivals such as Heineken39;s Murphy39;s.

Guinness has been a muchneeded bright spot in earnings for the world39;s top spirits maker, under pressure after a downturn in sales of other key brands like Johnnie Walker whiskey in some markets helped force a profit warning last year.

Diageo has made continued momentum for Guinness a key part of its growth strategy. Future drivers include a potential rollout of Guinness 0.0, the zeroalcohol version, on draught in pubs beyond Ireland. It is currently testing the move at The Devonshire pub in London.

But years of doubledigit growth for Guinness have caught the eye of rivals, including the world39;s top beer maker AnheuserBusch InBev, which hope to become more serious competitors to Guinness, a dark beer with a rich malty taste.

Meanwhile, a series of price hikes has irked Guinness customers like Shane Ranasinghe, who with codirectors runs seven pubs across south London, including The Montpelier in Peckham and The Railway in Streatham.

He and two other UK publicans Reuters spoke to said they had started pushing rival brands, in particular Heineken stout Murphy39;s, to…