From Glastonbury to the Championship...

It would be fair to say that the seeds of the pear cider revolution in the UK were sown in a field in Somerset. The Glastonbury festival may have given countless bands their big break, but in 1995 it was also the birthplace of Brothers Pear Cider.

Weighing in at a monster seven per cent, it became a real favourite of festival-goers. The product was sold on a stall run by the Showering brothers, part of the family that brought the UK that most famous of fermented pear products, Babycham.

At the time the focus of the family business was on a contract bottling plant, which backed onto the Glastonbury festival site. The three Showering brothers, still imbued with a passion for pear cider, sensed an opportunity.

"They were keen to make and sell cider and so the pear cider at Glastonbury became a means to pursue their hobby and passion," says Matthew Langley, marketing manager for Brothers.

Surprising side effect

Langley suggests that, far from being influenced by the success of Magners, the decision to roll out the Brothers brand was a surprising side effect of the decision by Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis to take a year off from the festival in 2001. Rather than spending the summer twiddling their thumbs, the brothers were inundated with requests for the cider. So much so that local wholesalers started to get involved.

With the pear cider as its flagship, Brothers has begun to enjoy real success in the on-trade, getting listings in major national wholesalers, and big retailers, such as Punch Taverns, Mitchells & Butlers and Regent Inns.

The sense, however, with Brothers is that the company has moved on from pear and sees it as just one part of their portfolio. Indeed, sources within the company suggest the brand extension garnering the most buzz and excitement around it is strawberry.

Gradual growth

One newcomer to the market that is expressly focusing on pear is St Helier. Part of Intercontinental Brands (ICB), St Helier has slowly but surely gathered momentum since its launch in October 2006.

"There was a developing market here from brands that had already been launched. And as we saw it, pear is the natural step for people who are looking for an alternative to apple cider," says Richard Luscombe, national sales manager for the on-trade at ICB. The company has established good routes to market and listings in Slug and Lettuce, Fuller's managed houses, and Marston's leased pubs.

But, more than anything, St Helier is getting attention for a particularly impressive marketing coup - sponsorship of the TV coverage for the Coca-Cola Championship on ITV. While it is not the Premier League, it attracts a large audience of loyal supporters and general football fans on a Sunday morning.

For a brand that few had heard of at the beginning of the football season in August, it is a fantastic deal, and one Richard is understandably proud of: "The sponsorship demonstrates a real commitment to the brand as we gain the distribution that will underpin it. And it is a sponsorship that carries on for the whole season."

A knock-on effect from RTDs

The most noticeable newcomer to the pear cider market in 2007 - aside from the imminent launch of Scottish & Newcastle's Bulmers Pear - has been Maguires (which is produced by Somerset cider maker Thatchers) from Halewood, which was brought to market in June. The Liverpool-based company, which has had a significant interest in the ready-to-drink (RTD) market, launched its pear variety at the same time as the apple cider, showing just how far pear had come in 12 months.

However, Halewood preaches a different message than its competitors when it comes to the question of why it entered the market and why pear cider is interesting so many brand owners.

While other producers suggest the leap from apple cider to pear cider is an easy one for people to make, Richard Clark, marketing controller at Halewood, argues that the rise of pear cider has to be viewed in the context of the current problems affecting the RTD market.

"It is fair to say the cycle of events in RTDs has led brand owners such as ourselves into this arena," he says. "RTDs are no longer fulfilling their requirements. So there has been an opportunity to develop this brand.

"We went for pear as well as apple as it just seems fruitier to the consumer and it plays very well to them. Our research showed that consumers have turned their backs on RTDs - they want natural, fruity products. So Maguires was developed for a year and then we saw what Magners had done nationally and Brothers regionally."

So where is pear cider headed?

As suggested in the introduction there is already concern given the massive hike in juice prices for 2008. But will there be casualties in the pear cider market in the way envisioned by Davin Nugent and Adrian Hirst at Kopparberg?

Matthew Langley and Richard Luscombe believe not. "There is a long way to go with this market. There are still a lot of people out there who don't know anything about pear cider or the brand," believes Richard. "Success will be about supporting the brand with investment, and success in 2008 will come for those who continue to invest."

Meanwhile, Matthew feels that the market will continue to evolve and move away from the over-ice 'fad' of the moment: "I think cider has to move on from the over-ice serve. Consumers are wise to where the future is going. Pear cider is now a category in its own right. But the key is brand investment. Strongbow took 20 years to become a top 10 brand and we have a long-term brand strategy.

"There are a lot of European imports coming in and it is a question of whether they have long-term plans. If they are after a quick buck they will not last long."