MA Cider Report 2008
Around the turn of the century, RTDs were booming and cider, along with other long drinks, was trailing in the wake of an exciting category with a mass of product innovations.
But over the past eight years, three separate events have conspired to transform the battle between RTDs and cider.
First, RTDs became the fall guys for the bad publicity surrounding binge and underage drinking. Marketing them turned into a tightrope walk, and adult consumers turned their backs on products that — rightly or wrongly — the popular press portrayed as kids' drinks.
Second, leading cider producer
Bulmers and dominant brand
Strongbow were bought by Scottish & Newcastle, which declared war on strong white cider, extra free giveaways and cheap and not-so-cheerful PETs, restoring both profitability and credibility to the category.
Then, there was Magners. Though the brand's lead marketer credits consumers rather than the producer with the over-ice serve, what's not in doubt is that it transformed the category - especially in the on-trade — setting an already growing cider market on course for the sort of Nielsen stats that only come around once in a generation.
And even though last summer's lousy weather helped trim those figures, the cider category is still showing double-digit growth.
Rival producers, consumers and pub retailers have been inspired by the Magners' effect.
Brands like Kopparberg have come from nowhere to achieve high profiles in pub company estates.
Magners' competitors have taken the over-ice trend to new levels with frozen draught cider serves.
We've seen cider served with fruit in it and cider made by adding liqueurs to it. There's cider made to mimic the look of wine and cider produced to look like a certain well-known wheat beer.
The latest innovations include ciders that retain the abv content, but rip out the calories. It's been tried in recent years with RTDs and with beer with little to show for it - but with the cider's industry's Midas touch in recent times, who's to say it won't work for them?
