There’s a new cider on the block and it has the lot. Made by Sharp’s Brewery, in collaboration with Aspall, Cold River Cider offers “a unique blend of bitter-sweet and culinary apples creating a crisp, balanced, refreshing cider”.
While premiumisation has taken longer to catch on in the cider category versus the likes of beer, wine and spirits, a lesser spotted symptom of Covid-19 has seen quality pours become the apple of many a pubgoer’s eye.
Fruit cider flooding the UK on-trade just after the turn of the century saw sweet serves drench both bar tops and fridges – where they remain ubiquitous. The Morning Advertiser (MA) asks ‘have we hit peak cider?’
As British Summer Time begins, The Morning Advertiser cuts to the core of the cider category before the nation’s sweet tooth and beer garden weather strike back against Covid with a vengeance.
Despite being closed for four months, facing strict curfews, tier systems and enduring a second national lockdown, drinks sales in the on-trade were strong when the sector was open.
While operators may have missed a large chunk of the summer cider love-in this year, far from serving up a rotten apple, autumn and winter could yet offer a golden opportunity for profits.
More than 30 cidermakers have united in a campaign to grow the visibility of cider among the British public and encourage punters to be adventurous within the category.
Somerset-based cidermaker Brothers has attributed a 69% year-on-year sales increase to the rollout of experimental pours including Tutti Frutti and Marshmallow variants.
As pubs prepare for a summer start to life after lockdown, MA asks what aspects of a carefully harvested fruit cider offer can give operators another bite at the cherry.
Cider-maker Thatchers has announced it will be putting £1m behind helping publicans get back to business, offering every pub in the UK a free keg of its cider.
Teetotal Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak paid critical attention to the pub trade in the release of his 2020 Budget today (11 March), as the sector braces itself for a hammering by coronavirus.
