How much alcohol in Cider?
You have to give it to AB-InBev: they are reassuringly predictable. If they spot a category that’s growing, they will have a product for it in no time. Viz Stella Artois Cidre. Not a cider, but a cidre. Already in February 2011 the brewer of Stella Artois beer unveiled Cidre, a “premium, crisp and refreshing” attempt to cash in on booming sales of the drink. Supported by a “double-digit” million-pound marketing spend Cidre hit the supermarket shelves at Easter. A premium Belgian cider allegedly made from apples fresh from the orchard, fermented in Belgium and imported to the UK, Stella Artois Cidre has a crisp and refreshing taste at 4.5 percent abv. The cidre is available in 568 ml bottles and 440 ml cans and since May it is sold in the on-trade too, although not in draught form.
Ciders have gone through a renaissance in recent years with the launch of
Magners (owned by Irish drinks group C&C), which is poured over ice, and the re-launch of Bulmers, which has led to significant volume gains.
The category seems to be carving out a niche within the alcoholic segment and continued growth is forecast over the next few years, says market research company Canadean.
Consumer research experts Mintel say cider sales have soared to 840,000 hl in 2010. The UK market, dominated by Strongbow (owned by Heineken), is estimated to be worth GBP 2.2 billion in sales.
Slick marketing campaigns have helped a generation, whose drinking habits began with alcopops, to graduate to cider. Today, one of the largest groups of cider drinkers are 18 to 34-year-old men but women are also getting a taste for it as producers launch new varieties such as pear cider.
Traditionally a farmers’ tipple, cider does not seem to have a fixed alcohol content. It varies from 2 % abv to 8.5 % abv or more.
While Stella Artois Cidre and Magners have opted for 4.5 % abv for their supposedly full-strength products, Heineken’s Strongbow cider still has 5.3 % abv.
Interestingly, following the launch of Stella Artois Cidre, Heineken said in March 2011 that they will take 100 million alcohol units out of the UK market every year by lowering the strength of their Strongbow cider brand from 5.3 % abv to 4.3% abv.
Strangely, Heineken failed to mention when it may happen.
In retrospect it seems that Heineken’s announcement may have had nothing to do with a new competitor, Stella Artois Cidre, appearing on the scene, but more with the British government’s efforts to curb alcohol abuse.
Drinks industry representatives had spent several months in discussions with the Government in order to agree on a set of voluntary measures aimed at promoting responsible drinking.
Obviously, Heineken must be reluctant to lower the alcohol content of their Strongbow cider brand, fearing that it would negatively affect taste – and sales.
However, if they were hoping to ingratiate themselves with the government and the militant anti-alcohol lobbyists, their (albeit vague) strategy may have had the desired effect.
