Bulmers chases growth with flavoured extension

Heineken has become the latest brand owner to expand into flavoured ciders as a way to drive further growth within the stalling category.

The firm has announced the addition of two fruit flavoured expressions for its Bulmers brand: Bulmers Cider Bold Black Cherry and Bulmers Cider Pressed Red Grape.

Due to reach the UK on- and off-trade in March, the 4% abv range extensions will be packaged in 568ml bottles in a bid by Bulmers to attract drinkers with a “need for experimentation.”

Commenting on the launch, Lawson Mountstevens, on-trade managing director for Heineken UK, insisted: “Genuine product innovation is crucial to maintaining sales and momentum in the modern cider category and flavoured cider has been a key driver of this success.”

He estimated that as much as 80% of incremental sales will come from flavoured cider by 2015. This complements a report last year by UK on-trade data analysts CGA Strategy reported “exponential growth of nearly 250% in the past two years” for the fruit cider category.

The Bulmers launch will be supported by a multi-media marketing campaign that Heineken said is its biggest investment in the brand to-date.

Among other brands to focus on flavoured variants as Magners, which launched its own flavoured range in 2011, and Stella Artois’s Cidre Pear, which launched last year. Retailers have also moved to capitalise on customer enthusiasm for fruit ciders, with Asda adding 19 new lines and dedicated fruit cider bays in 2012.

For a number of cider producers however, the quest for growth has led to a focus on developing export markets.

While Westons and Rekorderlig have already made significant investments in the Australian cider market, Magners has bought into opportunities presented by the US.

Last month the UK’s National Association of Cider Makers called on the government to support the export effort during “the most challenging period in living memory” for the industry.