UK: cider rivals beer in popularity

New research from Mintel has revealed that cider popularity is rivalling that of lager, with 47% of British drinkers calling themselves cider drinkers, compared with 46% who are lager drinkers.

Mintel’s report shows that the proportion of cider drinkers has risen from 42% a decade ago to 47% today. Even with a 6% decline in the UK drinking population, this demonstrates a large increase in consumer demand for the beverage, Mintel said in a press release.

And it looks set to continue this trajectory: Mintel anticipates a 12% growth in volume sales between 2011 and 2016.

Interestingly, beer and wine sales are declining. Beer sales have decreased by £2.2 billion between 2006 and 2011, mainly due to the decline of the UK pub sector. Wine drinkers have decreased from 66% in 2007 to 58% in 2011.

“Cider has been particularly successful at attracting younger drinkers from the ailing lager category, as well as from alcopops and wine due to a combination of impressive innovation and marketing nous,” said Senior Drinks Analyst Jonny Forsyth.

While cider doesn’t come close to matching lager in terms of volume consumed, it represents a huge potential for growth. Cider’s 2011 revenue of £2.4 billion pales in comparison to the UK lager market’s total revenue of £11.4 billion, but the changing proportion of cider drinkers could see that change in the future.

“While Cider is drunk mainly by men, it also has a strong appeal to women and this gives it a considerable advantage in the in-home-focused alcohol market where ‘shareability’ between the genders has become a key benefit. Refreshment and freshness in cider are especially popular among over-35 drinkers, whereas under-35s have been most attracted by cider’s variety of sweet flavours,” said Forsyth.

“18- to 34-year-olds tend to adopt a ‘mix and match’ approach to cider, drinking a combination of pear, apple and other fruit-flavoured ciders, while older consumers still prefer apple. Young cider drinkers have been attracted to the sweeter-tasting, non-apple ciders due to a combination of factors: they appeal to their sweeter tooth and their love of constant flavour innovation,” Forsyth concludes.