Cider on the rise

After enduring years of jokes and poor sales things are finally looking up for cider. Adam Withrington looks at cider's renaissance.

Cider. What images does that word conjure? Kids necking super-strength home-brew as they kick a football around a park? Or perhaps fat, ruddy-faced maypole dancers in Somerset hollering "ooh arrgh" as they swig pints of their local tipple?

However, it is unlikely that images of quality and provenance will spring to mind. This is hardly surprising considering that until recently most cider makers have not taken this approach to marketing - and it has affected the product's image.

A lot of advertising that has come from major cider producers in the last five or six years has focused solely on refreshment - "another Dry Blackthorn day" - or those arrows shattering a pint of Strongbow spring to mind. Taste was a side issue.

Chris Carr, managing director for ciders at Merrydown, explains: "I think things began to go wrong in the cider category about eight years ago when Bulmers started treating Strongbow like a lager rather than a cider. It was barely even branded as cider.

"Plus there was a huge expansion in the number of white ciders in the off-trade. That really damaged the drink's image and it got the reputation for being the student's favourite top-up tipple. There was also over-capacity in the market and we were seeing 50 per cent discounts, which undermined brand values."

But in the last two years things have begun to come full circle and cider is enjoying a full-blown renaissance. Strongbow's advertising has started to focus on taste again, sales figures have skyrocketed across the board and we have some major new players in the arena.

AC Nielsen statistics from March 2005 show there was 10 per cent year-on-year value growth in the category and five per cent volume growth.

Traditional cider makers are reporting impressive sales figures. Westons claims it will hit a turnover of around £10m by the end of the year, while Martin Thatcher, managing director of Thatcher's cider, says his company has seen annual growth of nearly 60 per cent in at least two of the last four years.

The particularly impressive growth has been in packaged cider, where there has been 40 per cent volume growth in the pub market compared with last year.

So what has made the cider category flourish again?​

The Magners effect​

No brand represents the rebirth of cider in the on-trade better than Magners. It is not the number one brand in the category but it has certainly invigorated cider.

Magners, which is the export version of leading Irish cider brand Bulmers - no longer any connection with the UK Bulmers - was launched in Scotland two years ago and in that time has taken nearly a quarter of the market there.

Having "conquered" Scotland it has now moved its attention to the South East of England. A relentless campaign of advertising on TV and posters and marketing campaigns including sampling and sponsorship deals (such as a new two-year deal to sponsor London Wasps rugby team) have put Magners right in the spotlight.

"We have given people permission to drink cider again. Basically we have reinvigorated the whole category. We have also set ourselves out as a credible alternative to beer and we have maintained quality," says Maurice Breen, marketing director for Magners.

"There has been a lot of negative imagery surrounding cider. No doubt some of our competitors have enjoyed the benefits of our investment in the category. And we expect them to respond."

Impact of Scottish Courage​

It may not be popular to give credit to big brewers but there is widespread agreement that the investment ScotCo has put behind Strongbow since it purchased the Bulmers cider business has really held the category together.

Strongbow retains its title as the UK's number one cider with more than 66 per cent share of the draught market (AC Nielsen, March 05).

Chris Carr says: "A big thing for cider was ScotCo's buyout of Bulmers. It has taken the imagery on advertising and point-of-sale away from "lager cues" - for example refreshment - and moved more towards taste."

Kirsten Ogilvie, cider marketing manager for ScotCo, says: "We are heavily investing in the brand and its marketing with a £22m programme.

"For example, we have recently announced a new advertising campaign that will run throughout the summer focusing on the brand's taste and the difficulty drinkers have in describing it."

This investment will have a knock-on effect across the category as Martin Thatcher confirms: "ScotCo has really got behind that brand, which is great for all of us."

Ice, ice baby​

Whichever bright spark at the Irish drinks company C&C (which owns Magners) told his bosses that the best way to market the new Magners 568ml bottles that were going into the Scottish market was to get people to drink it in pint glasses over ice, will surely have got a whacking great bonus.

It is a simple idea, but one that people have latched onto with great gusto, as Danny Scott, licensee of Rick's Bar in Greenwich, confirms. "Sales of Magners are going through the roof to be honest," he says.

"And it's all about the presentation for me. It's getting younger drinkers really interested in the stuff. I had a 23rd birthday party in here the other day and they got through five cases of the stuff! And it's not being drunk by the kind of clientele you would expect."

Fellow cider producers are now starting to "borrow" from this successful offer. Strongbow has launched a brand extension called Sirrus, which is bottled and recommended to be served, surprise, surprise, over ice.

Chris at Merrydown says such is the success of the "over ice" phenomenon that it has led the company to target a re-entry into the on-trade, and unashamedly plagiarise the Magners idea.

New fans for an old favourite​

"Basically cider is a very refreshing drink and I think some people have forgotten that. In fact there are a lot of people out there who haven't tried a pint of cider for a long time so the potential is fabulous."

Martin Thatcher's assessment is supported by ScotCo. Kirsten Ogilvie says: "Cider, and Strongbow in particular, is becoming seen as more relevant to a new generation of drinkers, which could be partly attributed to the decline of ready-to-drinks but is also due to the increased brand investment raising more awareness of both the category and the brand itself.

"For example, Bulmers internal sales data for 2004 found that total cider sales grew by over 12 per cent in National Union of Student bars."

What of the future?​

Speaking to cider brand owners from the very big to the very small there is real excitement about the prospects for a category that six years ago was little more than a joke.

However, a note of caution has to be sounded. Companies need to continue to invest and not just rely on this growing wave. As anyone will tell you in this industry - what goes up must come down. How hard it comes down and what damage is done depends on how brand owners behave right now.

There is a danger that the "over ice" serve could become a fad and you could see a Sol and Corona situation develop.

When the "wedge of lime" fad was in vogue they both did well - particularly Sol. However, only one of them it seems has managed to really succeed long-term - Corona. Although often still drunk with a lime, it has not need