Cider gains popularity, market share

Hard cider is “hot, hot, hot” right now, said Bryan Siddle, director of operations for Crown Valley Winery and Distillery in Ste. Genevieve, which recently opened a Branson location.

For the last three years, sales of the company’s hard cider have outpaced its wine, beer and spirits.

“We distribute in 16 states and continue to see strong sales,” he said.

Since 2012, hard cider has enjoyed huge gains in the nationwide market. According to Chicago-based Information Resources Inc., hard cider was up approximately 15 percent in dollar sales in 2015, in U.S. supermarkets, drug stores, mass merchandisers, gas and convenience stores, military commissaries and select club and dollar retail chains.

Sales were up 74 percent in 2014, so while sales are still growing, they are slowing on a national scale — but that doesn’t seem to be the case in Missouri. Hard cider is ramping up in Missouri as small operators jump in to produce more.

While St. James Winery is known for its wine, it started making cider five years ago and is poised to significantly expand this year.

In 2015, the winery produced 2,000 gallons of hard cider.

In 2016, St. James Winery is scheduled to make 40,000 gallons, said spokeswoman Megan Vogel.

“In 2014, thanks to a new business partnership, we put it on tap at Public House Brewing Company in Rolla and St. James, calling it Cider K. In 2016, we reformulated it and named it McIntyre Cider. In addition to our taps, McIntyre Cider will be officially released into the market in 12-ounce bottle six-packs later this year,” she said.

Josh Held, brewer at Urban Chestnut Brewing Co. in St. Louis, has produced a cider since 2012, and it’s in such demand he has a hard time keeping it in stock. The company is opening a new pilot brewery, and he is experimenting with other ciders and hopes to eventually bottle cider for distribution.

The Leaky Roof Meadery in Buffalo, which produces mead, plans to release a Cyser — a mead with apple cider — this fall, said Katie Rock, office manager.

Her husband is the head brewmaster and founder and has made the Cyser several times.

It’s one of their best sellers, she said.

“It’s very popular and one of my favorites,” Rock said. “Since hard cider is so popular right now, it’s a great way to use that to introduce people to mead.”

Cyser will only be available in the tasting room.

Crown Valley Distillery began producing cider in 2008, before it was trendy.

That was the same year they expanded from a winery and added a distillery and brewery, and Siddle has always had a personal interest in cider.

Their flagships are the best-selling blackberry cider and strawberry.

Crown Valley is located in Ste. Genevieve and is one of the state’s largest blackberry growers, so it was natural that it would craft blackberry cider. As for the strawberry cider, that’s Siddle’s favorite fruit, so he wanted to experiment with strawberry.

In the fall, they release a pumpkin cider and a gingerbread cider for winter.

“Our niche is flavored ciders,” Siddle said.

That’s the niche other producers are trying to tap.

“Fruit flavors blended with apple are popping up regularly, such as berry or citrus fruits, and we’ve started to notice unusual herbal or spice versions, such as basil and mint or pumpkin spice,” said Vogel. “In addition, there’s an increased number of dry hard ciders that have become available over the last few years.”

At St. James, the earlier versions were all apple ciders, but the McIntyre Cider line the company is releasing comes in four different flavors: apple, blackberry, peach and strawberry.

Mitch Turner, portfolio director for beer and cider for Major Brands Distributing in Springfield, says fruit ciders are the trend now, and those resonate with Missourians because they tend to like sweeter drinks.

While there are not as many Missouri players in the cider market, he’s seen them gain ground because people want to support local or Missouri products.

But for those who do like dry cider, there are options. In February, Seattle Cider Company entered the Missouri market when it teamed up with Major Brands Distributing, and the cider has sold well, he said.

So what is the future of cider production in Missouri?

That’s the “almighty question,” said Siddle.

As more wineries and breweries get into the market, how much market share can they acquire?

It’s more difficult and more expensive to produce cider than beer, which has likely deterred some from making cider, he said.

As of right now, hard cider sales are strong in the Midwest, and he believes there is still room for growth. Crown Valley is distributed in 16 states, but Missouri remains the strongest in terms of sales, followed by Illinois.

History of Hard Cider

Hard cider is a fermented beverage produced from apples.

Historically, the earliest record of the fermentation of apples can be traced back to the Romans in 55 BC when they reached Kent, England and noticed villagers drinking an alcoholic drink made from apples. From the 13th to the 17th centuries in Europe, drinking cider was safer than water.

The English colonists brought the craft of cider making to the Americas, and it was the drink of choice for our founding fathers. Benjamin Franklin said, “It's indeed bad to eat apples, it’s better to turn them all into cider.”

Cider began to lose popularity with the influx of German immigrants, who brought their beer traditions with them.

Large stockpiles of wheat and malt from the Midwest allowed beer to become an alternative to the local orchards. When the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, it made it easier to transport grain from the Midwest to the cities where breweries like Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis ramped up production.

But the real death of cider came with temperance and the Prohibition movement.

Today, England is the largest cider producer in the world, with 57 percent of all the apples it grows going to cider production.

Source: ATLAS Cider Company