New cider brand launched exclusively for on-trade

A new cider brand has been launched exclusively for the on-trade.

Symonds Founders Reserve is a 5.5 per cent ABV draught product that will be marketed on the basis of Herefordshire heritage and premium credentials by Scottish & Newcastle sales and marketing venture Heritage Brands.

Symonds was among the 'heritage' regionally-based ciders and ales in Scottish & Newcastle's (S&N) portfolio taken on by this new vehicle when it was established in January 2008, prior to S&N's acquisition by Heineken.

Heritage Brands claims that Founders Reserve taps into a gap in the growing draught cider market for products that have regional credibility yet scope for broad distribution.

John Edwards, marketing director at Jygsaw Brands, S&N's partners in Heritage Brands, said: "The cider market, after the over-ice trend, is beginning to mature. Consumers have bought into cider and are now beginning to experiment. Draught particularly is in growth, and what you have is a polarisation - mainstream brands at one end and premium niche brands at the other.

"However, at the top end, no brand that is scaleable nationally has really captured heritage and provenance as beer brands have. There is an untold story to tell there."