9. The First Major Exporter of Beer Worldwide
Guinness pioneered international beer exports, shipping stout to Britain, Africa, and the Caribbean as early as the 19th century, securing their global brand. The first recorded shipment of Guinness to the African continent arrived in Sierra Leone in 1827 (guinness.com). By the early 20th century, Guinness was the world’s largest brewery, with annual production reaching 4.8 million hectolitres in 1914.
