Diageo scraps Guinness FastPour system

Diageo's bid to launch a quick-pouring Guinness has flopped after a three-month test in 30 busy outlets proved that drinkers and barstaff prefer the traditional two-part pour.​The FastPour system, which uses ultrasound technology to trigger head creation and cuts overage pour time from 120 to 25 seconds, will now be pulled.

That leaves Interbrew's Murphy's Fastflow on its own in the quick-pour stout marketplace.

Guinness brand manager Radha Rajamohan admitted the brewer was surprised at the results of the test, carried out with Guinness Extra Cold in selected Six Continents (Now Mitchells & Butlers) venues in London, Newcastle and Yorkshire.

Pre-test research with focus groups and on the internet was "extremely positive", she said, with younger Guinness drinkers buying into the idea of a quicker pour given the context of a busy bar.

"But those results were not carried through into real life. It turns out that consumers love the two-part pour aspect of a pint of Guinness and they don't mind waiting."

Bar workers, too, missed the theatre of the traditional pour, she added. "Skilled barstaff like to know they can handle the two-part pour. It makes them seem more professional."

There were no hitches with the technology.

Now Diageo is to channel £250,000 into a "Born Again Basics" training programme to improve the quality of dispense, initially in all the brand's London outlets.

The brewer's field staff will be reiterating the two-part pour message in every visit, carrying out on-the-spot training of barstaff and checking the quality of the pint.

"A lot of pubs, especially in London, have a high turnover of staff and it's important that we do this kind of continuous training," said Ms Rajamohan.