With warm weather canvassing the country, it’s the perfect time to give American consumers a crisp, enticing new option in the alcoholic beverage category. This summer, cider makes a strong push into the U.S. marketplace after decades of success in Europe, with Strongbow leading the charge.
In 1664, John Evelyn, an English writer and gardener, wrote: “Generally, all strong and pleasant cider excites and cleanses the stomach, strengthens digestion, and infallibly frees the kidneys and bladder from breeding the gravel stone.” As amazing as that sounds, we can’t absolutely confirm the soundness of old Johnny boy’s medical theories. But we do know a cider lover when we see one.
Fast-forward a few hundred years to summer 2013. While cider lovers like Evelyn have remained consistent for decades in the UK and throughout Europe, the time has finally come for the American consumer to embrace this crisp and emerging category.
“There is genuine consumer interest in cider,” says Charles van Es, Sr. Director of the Portfolio Team at HEINEKEN USA. “The growth we’re seeing in the category is driven by consumer demand. The millennial, the consumer of age that all of us are often targeting, is very much interested in finding new variety. They are ‘discovery people,’ constantly looking for new things. And in doing so, they bump into cider from time to time. And if you ask cider and non-cider drinkers what would make them drink it more, the top answer is ‘availability in bars in restaurants,’ with 26 percent of the people saying so in a recent survey. The fact that so many people are interested is great. ‘A tryer is a buyer,’ is what we always say, and that is what our research has shown us.”
For nearly a decade, Heineken N.V. partnered with the Vermont Hard Cider Co. to distribute Strongbow in the U.S cider market (which, as van Es mentioned, is a segment that grew some 20 percent in 2011, according to The Beer Institute). As of January 1 of this year, HEINEKEN USA is now the sole importer of Strongbow, and the approaching summer season has afforded the company its best opportunity to bring the cider category to the forefront of the American market.
“We’re extremely excited to bring cider into our overall portfolio to complement our other brands,” says Scott Blazek, Senior Vice President of Sales at HEINEKEN USA. “It’s still a small segment. It’s about half a share of the entire big beer category, but it’s growing by leaps and bounds. Heineken N.V. is the worldwide leader in market share of cider, and in the U.S., Strongbow is the No. 1 import cider. We’re well positioned in terms of understanding the type of consumer for this category globally, so we’re bringing that expertise domestically with an existing position of strength and a readiness to take it to the next level.”
