Bring back the Guinness Surger

The original idea of this blog was to try and raise awareness of the Guinness Surger unit, in the hope that Diageo UK would see that there is still consumer interest in the unit.

Whilst the goal of having Guinness Surger cans reintroduced to the UK retail market hasn't yet been realised, there has been a push by Diageo UK towards the On-Trade market. This has seen Surger Units appearing in more and more smaller venues across the UK. The upside of this is that there are a larger number of suppliers, both online and offline, holding stock of Surger cans. This is now making it much easier for the general public to get a hold of the cans.

I would obviously still like to see the cans reintroduced to the retail market. Please help me achieve this goal by visiting this Blog for updates and by becoming a follower. The more followers I have signed up the better chance we have of getting the Surger cans reintroduced.

Saturday, 14 November 2009

Name your worldwide suppliers

I'd like anyone who visits this blog, that has access to Guinness Surger cans or bottles, to send me an email giving the contact details of their suppliers.

This will enable me to build up a database of worldwide suppliers, which I can then list on this very Blog.

Please send your supplier details to surger@sky.com

Salute!

Wednesday, 4 November 2009

Australian Surger Withdrawn!

Another blow to all you Surger fans out there in Australia!

Just after reporting how well the Surger seems to be doing in Hong Kong, I've just had information from a contact that Diageo Australia have taken the decision to discontinue the Surger product over there due to a lack of demand.

It was also reported that a number of hotel chains were selling "heaps" of the stuff, but Diageo being the way they are, don't like to keep their "Surger hungry" fans supplied with the product that they want!

Let's hope that Diageo get the product online soon and make it available to all Surger drinkers around the world.

G'day!

Saturday, 31 October 2009

"Home" Surger Units to be installed in Japanese bars

News on the Net states:

"Japan's Kirin Brewery Co. is working with British liquor producer Diageo Plc to expand sales of Guinness black beer to smaller restaurants by installing newly developed compact beer "surgers."

Beer surgers use ultrasonic waves to put a foam head on beer poured from commercial-size cans. The versions predominantly used until now have been around 50cm tall, making it difficult to install them in small local pubs and bars. The new surgers are just 13cm wide and 5cm tall, allowing them to be placed on counters or in kitchens without taking up much space.

Before year's end, Kirin plans to increase the number of stores with beer surgers by 30 per cent to 20,000."


Obviously the "new" Surgers mentioned above are just the home version of the unit which was withdrawn in the UK. Either that or something almost identical. Surely if these units are still being produced it would be easy to for Diageo to sell them online.

Friday, 9 October 2009

Guinness Surger Supplies!!

Great news :)

I can now get regular supplies of Guinness Surger 520ml cans in cases of 24 in the UK.

Contact me for more info at surger@sky.com

Thursday, 17 September 2009

Arthur's Day

With the 250th Anniversary celebrations coming up, Guinness are concentrating on the Arthur's Day celebrations commencing on September 24th, so everything else seems to be on the back burner at the moment.

There are still plans for Surger to be made available and I will update you when I have more news of this.

In the meantime, have a great Arthur's Day!!!

Sláinte!

Sunday, 28 June 2009

Some exciting news (possibly)

I've just received information that Guinness in the UK may be about to start selling Guinness cans and bottles via their website, www.guinness.com

I have still to receive confirmation as to whether or not this will include Guinness Surger cans. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it does!

I'll keep you updated as and when new information becomes available.

Would you like to see Guinness Surger cans for sale on www.guinness.com? Please use the poll at the top of this page to cast your vote.

Cheers!

Tuesday, 16 June 2009

Why is Guinness Surger no longer available in UK shops?

Good question!

Diageo UK decided to withdraw the home Surger Unit after a 2 year trial. The reason they gave to the many customers who had forked out £16.99 for the unit was that the uptake wasn't as they had hoped for.

Tesco, who were the retail partner in this trial, were obviously not happy at having stock in their warehouses and shelves which wasn't selling either.

So why did it not sell as well as had been hoped for? Well one reason could be the marketing or more likely the lack of marketing. Do you remember all those adverts on TV for the "NEW GUINNESS SURGER UNIT"? or the full page ads in the national papers stating "GUINNESS DRAUGHT SURGER - BRING A TASTE OF DUBLIN HOME"?

No?!........Why not?

The reason you don't remember seeing any of this, is that it never happened! The only marketing I was ever aware of was on the Guinness.com website. Now I know that in this day and age most people have some sort of access to the internet, but for this to be the only outlet for advertising what is, in my opinion, the best take home version of Guinness ever to be sold, shows a lack of enthusiasim on Diageo's part.

Now that the bar-top Surger Unit seems to be taking off pretty well across the world, I think it's about time that Diageo UK gave the home unit another try or at the very least make Guinness Surger cans readily available to the general public. The cans are being produced in the UK, so why not sell them to people who actually want to buy them?

So far it's been a rocky year for Diageo. As the global recession deepens and consumer confidence remains low, they have been cutting costs and shedding jobs to protect their profits. In January, they said they may change or abandon $1.1 billion plans to reform production in Ireland and open a new state-of-the-art brewery.

If they need to increase sales then why not sell Surger cans to the public?


It's not all about sales though is it? It's about quality too. Two quotes I found on the internet back up this statement.

The first is from Master Brewmaster Fergal Murray - "Quality is the most important element of Guinness growth around the world. We have to have a visual experience, then a quality experience. And when you come to do an innovative product, you can't let the quality down."

Guinness Group marketing manager Matt Brand,referring to the Surger Unit, also said “(Customers) will now be able to order a draught Guinness in a much wider range of bars and trust that the quality, taste and presentation is exactly the same as it would be in Dublin"

I also just came across the following statement on the USA Guinness site - "
In our relentless pursuit for the perfect pint of GUINNESS® Draught no matter where you are, we present the GUINNESS® Draught Surger® device."
Notice they say "NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE"....well doesn't this included at home too?

If the guys at Guinness are truely serious about what they say with regards to the quality and presentation of their products, then why are people who want to drink Guinness at home being forced into buying an inferior product.......the Guinness Draught Widget can? Sure, the Widget can has done a good job for the past 21 years in giving us an imperfect version of the smooth and creamy Draught Guinness that we're used to getting at the pub, but times change, technology moves on and processes are refined. Guinness has achieved this refinement in the Surger Unit and Surger cans. So come on Guinness, give us what we want.....Surger cans in shops....NOW!

If you too want Guinness Surger to be made available in shops or even online, then please become a follower on this Blog page or leave a comment using the comments link below. The more followers who join this Blog, the better chance we will have of reaching our goal.

Please subscribe to this Blog to receive updates and new Blog entries.

Sláinte!

Saturday, 13 June 2009

1st Blog




The idea of this blog is to try and raise awareness of the Guinness Surger unit, in the hope that Diageo UK will see that there is still consumer interest in the unit.

The ultimate goal is to have Guinness Surger cans reintroduced to the UK retail market making them readily available to the general public.

Please help me achieve this goal by becoming a follower. The more followers I have signed up the better chance we have of getting the Surger cans reintroduced.

What is Guinness Surger?

Guinness Surger is a version of Guinness Draught which comes in a can, but doesn't contain a widget. Instead the can contains liquid versions of nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

How does it work? The Guinness Surger unit works using ultra-sonic technology. At the touch of a button, the Surger sends an ultra-sonic pulse through the pint glass, releasing the gases in the Guinness beer, which then settles into a smooth velvet pint with a creamy head.

Get a cold can of Surger Guinness, pour a little water on to the plate of the surger unit. Next, pour your can of Guinness into a pint glass at a 45º angle. Now, place your glass of freshly poured Guinness onto the plate of water on the Surger unit. Now hit the button on the unit. Watch as the gases are activated and the beer starts to surge. Wait for 119.5 seconds and then you can enjoy a Guinness just as good as any pub in Dublin.

Guinness Surger History

1977 - Guinness experimented with a primitive version of the system in 1977 in New York.

2003 – Japan & Singapore - The bar-top Surger Unit was launched in Japan and in its first year of use showed 60 per cent growth in sales of Guinness.

March 2006 - Guinness introduced the home version of the Surger Unit in the UK. Backed initially by a £2.5 million marketing spend, the device was available at larger Tesco stores and retailed at £16.99 in a pack containing a pint glass and two 520ml cans of Guinness Surger. Four-can packs of Surger also retailed at £4.99.

In 2007 there was a similar home Surger pack made available through Isetan stores in Singapore. This pack contained 2 pint tumblers and retailed at $49.90 (SGD)

14th November 2007 – Bar-top Surger announced for the USA. Brewmaster, Fergal Murray travelled around various locations in the US promoting the use of the unit.

April 2008 – Home version of the Guinness Surger Unit within the UK is withdrawn. Sales of Guinness Surger cans are also withdrawn from Tesco stores.

2009 - The bar-top Surger unit is now available worldwide, including countries such as UK, USA, Italy, France, Spain, Austria, Australia, Japan. Guinness Surger cans are available to licensed premises in the following sizes – UK and Spain 520ml, USA 14.9 Fl Oz, Europe 330ml, Japan 350ml and Australia 375ml.

Where can I buy Guinness Surger?