As hard cider volume growth continues, questions arise around the best way to present it on restaurant menus and at the bar. Total hard cider volume is expected to increase 50% in 2015, according to the DRINK database, with on-premise growth projected to outpace the overall category. Understanding the cider consumer and how they approach the category is crucial to leveraging the category’s growth. The On-Premise Craft Beer & Cider Consumer study provides some key insights:
- Frequent Hard Cider consumers – those who order cider in a restaurant or bar at least once a week or 2–3 times per month and order 4 or more drinks per visit – skew Millennial in terms of generation, and also skew African-American and Hispanic.
- Three in 10 Millennials who drink cider on-premise and the same portion of Frequent on-premise cider consumers consider cider a type of craft beer.
- The majority of on-premise cider consumers (68%) prefer the beverage served in bottles.
- Three in 10 consumers of hard cider indicate they’ve increased their consumption of the beverage in restaurants and bars recently; among African-Americans, the share reporting increased calls for cider rose to 41%.
- The beverages most likely to lose occasions to cider are domestic light and regular beer.
These findings point to opportunities regarding where to position cider on the beverage menu, and suggest it appeals strongly to specific consumer groups. Operators looking to differentiate via cider may also consider broadening their selection, as variety of styles and flavors can influence the where-to-dine decision for cider fans.