The growth of packaged cider in recent years has been impressive to say the least. Cider has grown from having little presence in the Australian market just five years ago, to a popular trend that is suited to almost any drinking occasion today. Against a backdrop of an overall sluggish packaged liquor market, cider continues to buck the trend – posting strong sales growth and market share gains.
While the top five cider brands have not changed position, innovation has been instrumental to driving the category’s stellar performance. A consistent flow of newcomers and further explosion of flavours including mango/raspberry and strawberry/kiwi – are just some of the top new product developments generating incremental dollars.
While Australians’ love affair with cider continues, manufacturers and brands will be competing for their share of cider’s success. To do this, marketers need to know who their consumers are in order to attract cider faithfuls and newcomers to their brand i.e. who is the cider drinker, what is the best way to reach them, when and where they are drinking, what alternate segments are in their repertoire, and what other liquor categories hold the greatest threat and opportunity for cider?
It will be those brands that have a true understanding of their target consumer that will cut through the clutter and provide a clear growth strategy to succeed in his increasingly crowded arena.
You can learn about the secrets behind cider’s success in Nielsen’s 2013 Cider Report.