www.cheersonline.com
30
• July/August 2015
The hard-cider category may trail behind wine and
beer in sales, but it's quickly making up ground.
Leading cider brands grew 57.8% from 2013 to 2014, according to the
Beverage Information and Insights Group, the research unit of Cheers' parent
company. Sales across the overall category expanded by 63.1% during that
same time period.
This is hardly an anomaly. Annual gains in the cider market have risen
for some time now. "The cider segment is the fastest-growing segment in the
alcohol industry, growing 700% since 2009," says Alejandra de Obeso, brand
director for Heineken International's Strongbow Apple Ciders.
These numbers are somewhat infl ated by the segment's previously lower
sales, before they benefi tted from the craft movement. "The reason there's
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By Kyle Swartz