Growth for cider

In Australia, cider may be the next big thing, as RTDs are taxed out of popularity and sales of beers and wines remain static. Moreover, cider is benefiting from a decade-long trend of drinkers experimenting outside their usual beer and wine choices.

Carlton & United, the Australian beer unit of Foster’s, says cider is the fastest-growing alcohol category in Australia, and the fifth-fastest-growing food and beverage category globally. Last year the company put an AUD 8 million (EUR 4.3 million) marketing investment behind the brewer’s cider portfolio which includes Strongbow, Mercury Cider and Bulmers Cider.

Strongbow Cider sells 13 million litres annually and generates more than AUD 83 million (EUR 45 million) in retail sales for Foster’s, it was reported.

Australian cider growth has been more than double the growth of total alcohol for the last three years and is globally the fastest growing liquor category.

Yet cider represents just one per cent of the Australian alcohol market. In Britain that figure is 9 percent.

Apart from Foster’s, another brewer with an interest in cider is Western Australia’s Little Creatures brewery (Lion Nathan), which released its Pipsqueak Cider last year. In Adelaide, Pipsqueak Apple Cider is being promoted as “the most refreshing fizz on tap – it’s as dry as a good joke and a sweet alternative to beer”.