Craft cider’s popularity grows as big brands put in the shade
IN THE last five years UK cider sales have dropped by 20% and experts are warning that it’s the larger cider companies like Strongbow and Magners that are taking the hit.
However, the sharp decline in the sales of major cider players is paving the way for small, artisan cider companies across the country, including Yorkshire-based The Real Cider Company.
Phil Kennedy has run the successful cider company in Hebden Bridge for six years and believes small artisan companies, like The Real Cider Company, are doing well because they offer a sense of transparency larger brands often struggle to deliver.
He said: “It’s not universal but the increase of smaller cider makers has seen the decline of larger brands. People want to know where their cider comes from the same way they do with their beer.
“They want to know what it’s made of and for it to have a bit of taste, so they’re much happier to have the smaller branded cider rather than big brands which are often made from concentrate.”
Cider reached a peak in popularity in 2010 just as Phil was setting up the specialist wholesaler for small farmhouse cider which also creates its own real fruit cider.
“Our own brand, Pulp has seen remarkable growth whilst some of the bigger brands that we do have suffered in the decline. It’s the real stuff that’s growing at the expense of the major brands. We’re fortunate we stock the small suppliers!”
It is thought the decline is down to a change in drinking habits, colder summers and the Government’s alcohol duty escalator. There is also greater competition, with more breweries than ever before.
Phil added: “In Yorkshire, we’ve seen the same change as is going on everywhere else – there’s much more interest in craft cider as there is in craft beer.
“We’ve seen a marked increase in business, especially from the regional cider producers and there are several in Yorkshire as well, including ourselves who make pulp.”
He predicts that the craft cider industry will see a continual growth as people become increasingly concerned about the quality of what they consume.
“Fruit ciders and real proper cider that’s made properly is going to carry on growing probably more quickly than the decline in big ciders. We’ll see an overall decline continuing in mass markets share, but a growth in the craft cider area,” Phil said.
