Sales data published ahead of the release of Westons’ annual Cider Report showed, of the top-selling draught cider brands, punters pay £2.93 on average for a pint of Magners Original and £4.10 for a pint of Aspall – a £1.17 difference.
Top 10 on-trade draught cider average prices per pint
- Strongbow: £3.17
- Strongbow Dark Fruit: £3.27
- Thatchers Gold: £3.37
- Stowford Press: £3.53
- Somersby: £3.46
- Magners Original: £2.93 cheapest
- Aspall: £4.10 most expensive
- Strongbow Cloudy: £3.59
- Carling Cider: £3.17
- Old Rosie: £3.84
Cider is worth £1.86bn to the on-trade, with 287m litres sold in the 12 months to January 2018, according to the report.
Value has grown by 2.4% in the past 12 months, while volume sales have picked up only slightly by 0.3%.
Category into four segments
The report breaks the on-trade cider category into four segments: mainstream, premium, crafted and value amber.
Crafted saw sales and market share grow by 16.9% and 9% respectively, mainstream grew sales by 1.7% to 66% market share, while premium’s sales slumped by 6.3% to 25% market share.
Value amber lost a significant 52.1% share of the market, meaning the segment no longer has a position in the on-trade.
Fruit cider is expected to grow share to 50% of on-trade sales within the next five years, but currently sits at 36% compared with apple’s share of 63% and pear’s share of just 2%.
Westons launched a new Mixed Berries Stowford Press draught variant, which is exclusive to the on-trade, in preparation of the growth.
Pear falling
Pear’s sales have been sliding for the past few years as customers’ interest in the segment continues to wane.
As a dispense method, draught, partly thanks to the rise of fruit ciders such as Strongbow Dark Fruits, accounts for 71% of cider sales on the bar, showing growth of 4.5%. Meanwhile, packaged has a 29% share, which has dipped by 8.8%.
Looking at who drinks which types of cider, men account for 53% of total sales, while women account for 47%. However, women account for 60% of fruit cider sales and men 40%.
Yet, the average price of a pint of draught fruit cider (£3.32) is lower than draught apple (£3.38), according to the report.