CIDER may often do well in summer but the cider firms are keen to extend sales in spring, autumn and winter too.
• Swedish cider Kopparberg is turning its attention to the colder months with the launch this month of Kopparberg Spiced Apple.
The firm describes it as full of winter flavour with “a warming sweetness, balancing cinnamon notes with a woody aroma”. It says the spiced apple drink is designed to be drunk either over ice or warmed. RRP is £2.29 for the 500ml bottle.
• Merrydown Cider is launching autumn, Halloween and Christmas food and cider matching initiatives this year.
Debs Carter, marketing director – alcohol at SHS Drinks said “Cider and food matching represents a great opportunity for convenience retailers to enhance the customers’ shopping experience by, for example, featuring shelf-strip tasting notes, food-matching suggestions which can be found on a lot of brands’ websites.
“We’ve developed a series of traditional recipes with a cider twist and published them in a Merrydown Recipe Book.
“We have included a series of seasonal recipes on the Merrydown website (www.merrydown.co.uk) which not only go well with Merrydown, but use the cider as a cooking ingredient to provide inspiration for consumers.”
• Cider firm Thatchers reckons the off-trade is embracing the variety and innovation of cider.
It argues that c-stores should stock a range of ciders from heritage producers such as its own Thatchers Gold, Thatchers Vintage and Thatchers Katy to give consumers a clear choice of cider styles.
In the coming weeks it will highlight its Green Goblin cider using Halloween-related POS material with the strapline “Release Your Inner Goblin”.
• Cider brand Henry Westons is giving its range a new look this month with what it says is brighter and simpler packaging, to appeal to a broader consumer group.
The updated packaging features across the entire range including Henry Westons: Vintage Cider, Vintage Perry, Medium Sweet Cider and Medium Dry Cider in 500ml bottles.
