Cider stays strong despite COVID-19 restrictions

The sixth edition of Westons Cider Report found that in 2020 the cider category grew 21.2% year-on-year in grocery retail, taking overall value to £1.3bn. It stated that shoppers had bought cider in greater volumes across the year, averaging an additional 30 litres per household – up 9.4%.

Tim Williams, insight and innovation manager as Westons, said: “After a year of almost continuous government restrictions and the consequent closure of the on-trade, we’ve seen a huge swing towards the off-trade.​

“The challenge now is for cider brands to keep engaging with these new consumers to help the off-trade retain some of the share it picked up in 2020, even as pubs, bars and restaurants reopen.​

“We’re confident that the clear appetite for cider demonstrated through last year’s significant off-trade growth spells good news for the category overall.”​

Crafted cider​

Westons also found that the growth of crafted cider continued to significantly outpace the overall category, up 48.7% versus 21.2% respectively.

The report attributed this growth as a vital driver of premiumisation across the subcategory. Higher-value, traditional ciders continue to drive trade-up consumers looked to authentic, heritage brands for products they could count on to deliver a high-quality serve at home.

Westons head of marketing Sally McKinnon added: “The figures suggest that stocking premium, branded lines with provenance and heritage will unlock a significant sales opportunity for retailers.​

“However, there’s still a huge untapped opportunity to drive premiumisation and value growth across the wider category. ​

“Understanding cider drinkers’ motivations and the new opportunities beyond COVID will be integral to this, and innovations within other fast-growing subcategories could help to spread value growth more evenly across the category.”​

Key areas ​

Other areas driving growth included online and convenience –  up 81.4% and 19.0% respectively, well ahead of the 17.9% growth seen in the total grocery market – and low- and no-alcohol cider (volumes up 32.6%).

Darryl Hinksman, head of business development at Westons, concluded: “Over the past year, UK grocery retail has played a crucial role in maintaining presence and momentum for the cider category. ​

“The sheer popularity of crafted ciders, the emergence of diverse offerings within the cloudy and rosé subcategories. The growth of the online and convenience channels have played a key part in this, and we expect these factors to remain important throughout the year ahead.”​

Meanwhile, Guillaume Chesneau, managing director at Nespresso UK and ROI, has outlined important 2020 consumer trends​​ and how these would influence food and drink production and sales growth in 2021.