ND1129113

Title: Cider Sales Jump 25% This Year

Description: Hard cider captures craft beer drinkers searching for new tastes, as well as the much-coveted female demographic.

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NEW YORK ? While mainstream beer brands are experiencing declining sales, hard cider sales are growing rapidly, with sales up 25 percent in the year ending October 30, Advertising Age reports.

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According to SymphonyIRI, which tracks grocery sales excluding those at Walmart and liquor stores, hard cider sales reached $49.6 million for the year, a small fraction of the alcohol category but promising nonetheless, especially as sales tapped both men and women drinkers.

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Despite the positive news, the major brewers do not offer cider brands, though they appear to be watching the category in the U.S. AB InBev, for instance, launched a cider in the U.K. called Stella Artois Cidre, and SABMiller, which owns 58% of MillerCoors, sells one cider brand, Sarita, in South Africa. Cider is "a category we're watching with interest," said a MillerCoors spokesman.

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The largest U.S. cider player is the privately owned Vermont Hard Cider Co., which controls roughly 60 percent of the cider market with several brands, including Woodchuck, which has a 47% share and whose sales grew 37%, according to SymphonyIRI.

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Hard cider relies on grass roots marketing, just like craft beer, which attracts consumers seeking new tastes and brand stories. While it used to skew to women, more men are drinking it today. According to Vermont Hard Cider, its customer base is now 50 percent male.

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"People used to feel it was just a sweet product. Now it's a lot more complex," said Vermont Hard Cider President-CEO Bret Williams. "We're doing new things and pushing the envelope, and that's bringing in the men."

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Craft beer pioneer Boston Beer Co, maker of Sam Adams, sells a cider brand called Harcore, whose sales were up 21% in the year ending October 30. And it has a new offering named Angry Orchard that is also coming to market.

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Content Subject: Marketing/Merchandising

Formatted Article Date: November 29, 2011

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