The core business

Heavy discounting and PPSs have hit cider hard, but the core players are pulling out the stops to make the future of the apple big. By Ben McFarland.

Never mind ale, if you're talking about England's true national drink then look no further than cider.

It was introduced to these shores courtesy of the Normans more than 1,000 years ago and was paid in tythes to the church and used as part of a farm labourer's wages.

Once known as the "wine of England", cider has traditionally conjured up images of rosy-cheeked Englishman playing cricket on a summer's day.

Its modern day persona is, unfortunately, not so romantic with many associating it with a misspent adolescence, snake-bite (a potent mix of cider and lager) and dwindling sales.

Few drinks categories have borne the brunt of premium packaged spirits more than the cider sector and a severe bout of price cutting during the last five years in both the on and the off trade has also done little to change perceptions of the drink.

Following the announcement of its quarterly results earlier this year, Richard Sands, chairman of US drinks giant Constellation Brands - owner of Blackthorn cider and Diamond White - said he expected a "structural change" to the UK cider sector "in order for the category to survive". What form this "structural change" will take has been the subject of much industry speculation - primarily surrounding the future of the market leading Strongbow brand.

The financial frailties of owner Bulmers, a result of over ambitious overseas expansion, has led to the sale of the Beer Seller distribution business but at the time of writing, the company had still not decided whether to put the entire business, including Strongbow, on the market.

While the rumours circulate as to the future of Strongbow, the mood from within the Herefordshire-based business is remaining bullish.

"Here the Bulmers business has been, and remains, totally solid, sound and profitable with all its brands in growth. Our priority is to concentrate on the cider business," said George Thomas of Bulmers.

"There are no brands for sale, Strongbow is Bulmers and right now the key objective is to remain an independent force in the UK cider market.

"The plan is to have the Bulmers cider business as a much leaner and fitter business as it was prior to the financial issue. Miles Templeman is fully committed to turning the business around and maintaining independence."

As the mastermind behind the rise of Stella Artois, the reassuringly expensive lager, Miles Templeman knows all about persuading drinkers to pay more for a pint and the future of not only Strongbow but also cider as a whole will depend hugely on his approach to pricing.

"Bulmers has a dominant position in the cider sector and we recognise our responsibility as market leader to developing the cider category in the on-trade," added George. "Strongbow's success is cider's success."

Whether Strongbow stays at Bulmers or goes elsewhere, once the dust settles other cider brands will certainly be hoping for an end to the price war.

"We would like to see more value returned to the category," said Simon Russell of Matthew Clark. "We think value needs to be restored as you can't build a brand by discounting. It (Strongbow) had distribution gains but at what cost to its business? Buying market share doesn't do anything for the category long-term."

The on-trade cider category is worth 1.6m hectolitres in volume terms while its value is worth more than £600m at retail selling price.

"That's a very significant contribution to the licensed trade and reason enough for licensees to put extra weight behind cider in their pubs. Cider's had its peaks and troughs but there's always been an underlying strength," added George.

Bulmers currently commands around two-thirds of the on-trade cider sector, with Strongbow having the lions share of its 90,000 taps.

Investment in TV advertising is set to rise this year from £3.3m to £5.5m in an effort to underline Strongbow's position as a leading long alcoholic drink (LAD) rather than a cider.

"The cider category fits into the LAD sector - it doesn't sit separately and beer and ales are direct competitors," added George.

Blackthorn, meanwhile, is marketed as an authentic cider rather than a substitute for lager. "We think that cider is something to celebrate," said Simon. "Strongbow has taken on the lager boys and its increasingly looking like a lager but we won't go down that route - cider is not just another premium lager. It's a very important part of the drinker's repertoire."

Blackthorn gets sporty to bid for top spot​

After a brief foray on to TV four years ago, Blackthorn has adopted a two-tier marketing strategy as it looks to broaden its distribution from its West Country heartland and close the gap on Strongbow.

As well as a high profile sponsorship of Bath rugby team, Blackthorn has spent the last few years developing a long-term affiliation with the burgeoning UK adrenalin sports scene.

In 2000, Blackthorn rebranded its West Country heartland as the "West Coast UK" and through an initiative that included everything from music festivals to extreme sports, tapped into the hordes of young drinkers that flock to the area in the summer. "It's the number one destination for 18 to 30-year-old tourists in the UK and they're not coming because there are major points of interest," said Simon Russell of Matthew Clark.

Blackthorn cast its net further the following year with a nationwide "Coast to Coast" initiative that included surfing in the Outer Hebrides.

More recently, Blackthorn has joined forces with the Extreme Academy in Newquay the UK's only ski resort on a beach, and in Scotland, where Blackthorn has a strong following, the brand has developed a relationship with the particularly impressive Adventure Centre, the largest indoor climbing arena in the world housed in a disused quarry outside Edinburgh.

In a joint venture with the Adventure Centre, Blackthorn recently ran a nationwide competition offering drinkers the trip of a lifetime to the Big White, one of Canada's most sought after snowboarding and ski resorts.

This included a number of national radio promotions and a major link-up with the Belhaven pub group in Scotland. The winners are pictured on the right.

"We're really happy about the way it's going - adrenalin sports fit very well with Blackthorn," said Dougie Gillespie, Blackthorn brand manager. "It's all about what's credible and what's relevant to our core drinkers and we feel we are really part of the scene now. We've been accepted as a credible partner - we don't just go in and pay a cheque."

Westons aims to be the alternative​

Roger Jackson of Westons Cider, one of several smaller cider producers, is calling on licensees to break from convention and stock more than one brand on the bar.

"There's always a good selection of beer and lagers but usually there's only one cider for drinkers to choose," he said.

"Licensees will never know which cider is more popular if there isn't any choice."

Westons is looking to swap the clichéd "village idiot" image of cider for urban chic with the launch of Stowford Export, a new premium sibling to its popular Stowford Press brand with an ABV of six per cent and a rather sexy looking chrome Cobra font.

The plan is to market it as a premium, niche alternative to the mainstream brands.

"There are a lot of young person's venues and fashionable outlets that are selling a lot of unusual foreign beers and this product will be an ideal fit for these kind of bars.

"By stocking something that no-one else has got, it can give the licensee a valuable point of difference."