Fruit ciders to account for almost half of cider sales within five years

30-Apr-2018 - Last updated on 11-Jun-2018 at 10:43 GMT

Berry good going: the report reveals that fruit cider has grown by 338% in the past 12 years

Related tags Cider

Fruit-flavoured cider is predicted to make up almost half of all cider sales by 2023, according to Westons' third annual Cider Report.

The report reveals that fruit cider has grown by 338% in the past 12 years and now makes up 27% of the overall category across both the on and off-trade. If current growth continues at the same rate, fruit ciders will make up almost half of all cider sales in the next five years.

The Morning Advertiser is giving operators the opportunity to get a FREE ticket to the Cider Summit. Click here to be in with a chance.

Data from CGA shows that both females and younger consumers are being enticed to the category by fruit varieties. In the on-trade, females make up 60% of fruit cider drinkers, compared to 47% of all cider drinkers, while 50% of fruit cider drinkers are aged between 18 and 34, compared to 36% of all cider drinkers being in the same age category.

“Fruit cider is a fairly new entrant to the cider category and was initially dismissed by many as a passing fad,” explained the report. “In 2005, the 500,000 litres sold represented 0.08% of total cider volume sold, since then it has consistently grown over the past 12 years to become 27% of the marketplace by the end of 2017."

New consumers

The report also revealed: “Fruit cider, with flavour profiles at the sweeter end of the scale is often accused of being RTDs in all but name, however, this sector of the cider category has done much to revitalise cider by bringing in consumers who would otherwise not have entered the cider category.”

“Fruit cider is clearly here to stay. If current growth continues at the same rate, fruit cider will be 48% of all cider by 2023.”

Elsewhere in the Cider Report, the cider category was revealed to be in good health, with sales up by 3.5% in value to £2.98bn in the past year. The average pint of cider in the on-trade was £3.68 in 2017, up 8p in the past year, reflecting the general trend towards premiumisation across the industry.

However, despite this success, and strong value and volume growth across many UK regions, challenges remain, with a strong performance from draught cider (volumes up 3% to account for 71% of all on-trade cider sales) offset by a challenging year for packaged ciders (volumes down 3%).

Cider Summit

London is the only region in the report not experiencing a growth in value sales of cider overall (down 3.3%). The report states that this decline is driven by plummeting value sales of pear cider (down 39.8%) and packaged cider (down 7.6%).

To find out more about what is happening in the UK cider category, licensees can book to attend The Morning Advertiser’s Cider Summit this summer (22 June) at the Stable in Bristol.

Organised by Ciderologist Gabe Cook, the Cider Summit will focus on key trends within the sector, including the influence of US cider and the impact of the rise of canning.

For more information about the event, and how to book, contact Stevie Robinson by email at fgrivr.ebovafba@jeoz.pbz or by phone on 01293 846508.

The Cider Summit is sponsored by Westons and Mallets Cider.