Comment: Too much flavour?

I read last week that a major cider brand owner has launched a blueberry cider. Not the most staggering story ever. But it does provoke mixed feelings.

I am happy that the cider category is seeing new product development and continues to flourish. But somehow I can't help thinking that this isn't going to help the cider category in the long run.

The huge success of Bulmers and Magners behind category leader Strongbow has created a problem within cider. It has led to a vast number of new brand owners entering the market, only to learn very quickly that selling apple cider is not the best way forward.

Their view has been to leave apple to the good people at Scottish & Newcastle and C&C. Instead they have focused their energies on making ciders with every other flavour under the sun: strawberry, raspberry, raspberry & lime, mixed fruit and now blueberry.

What next? Acai cider? Pomegranate cider? We are moving towards the very thing that destroyed the alcopop market: a situation where brands slowly but surely undermine their brand equity by launching flavour after flavour. I am sure Bacardi will tell you all about the damage that did to Breezers.But more than that, surely this is not what cider is about.

Cider has a tradition and heritage that is not going to be helped by brand owners slowly circling the category, seeking out a new flavour that has yet to be taken to market. If we are not careful, cider will simply become a drinks sector that is about appealing to younger drinkers with a sweet tooth. And it is so much more than that.