Cider Opportunities

The cider category is extremely important in the on trade, the UK economy and many rural communities, yet we can often underestimate how big cider is. Over the past year, cider has been one of the stronger performing drinks categories and, according to the fourth edition of Westons Cider Report, it is set to once again play a key role in driving sales for pubs and retail outlets throughout 2019, as the category’s appeal continues to grow amongst consumers.

In the on trade, cider and perry is now worth £1,94bn, an amount that has been driven by sales of 2,930,472hl (hectolitres) and is at 1.9% moving annual total (MAT) growth. The major drivers of this on trade growth are fruit cider, draught cider and crafted cider, with fruit cider representing 40% of all cider volumes sold and now worth £826.9m – up 14.2% in volume and 15% in value. Fruit cider is showing no signs of slowing down either: in some parts of the UK it is larger than apple.