A Colourful Opportunity For Brewers Making Cider

Consumer Demand for Beverage Varietals

Blueberry & Lemon Sparkling Cider, Buckwheat Cider, Melba White Peach & Raspberry Ciders are a few of the offerings in the adult beverage market today. The beer market is a diverse sector with around 10.000 active breweries in the European Union. With an increase in the number of microbreweries, ‘diversity amongst beer products is increasing over time as the industry innovates, producing a wider range of products,’ as The Brewers of Europe report.(1)

A sub-segment of the craft beer market, cider, is an alternative to the classical beer well-received by Millennials who seek sweet and unique flavour offerings in their alcohol. Cider is a fermented alcoholic beverage typically produced from apples and pears, lighter than your average craft beer in carbonation and alcohol content, gluten-free, and traditionally a golden-beige hue. As Euromonitor forecasts, European cider market is expected to grow at 5% year-on-year until 2028, and cider develops even in countries that historically do not have a strong cider tradition, like Sweden or Estonia. In ‘classical cider countries’ like UK or France the drive to innovate ‘trendy cider drinks’ is visible.(2)

Breaking Through a Cluttered Category

While Cider flavour varieties have been drawing attention for some brands, other brewers are still searching for effective ways to differentiate their brands in the growing and increasingly crowded market. Today’s consumers are demanding — seeking premium offerings and better ingredient stories. The Cider category enjoys a “healthy halo” since the main ingredients in ciders are various fruits, making a wellness positioning more feasible than for competing alcoholic beverages. However, there is one aspect of the cider market where incremental opportunity awaits an adventurous brewer or operator: natural colouring to enhance the wellness perception. Natural colour can not only aid in health and wellness positioning, but it also is a way for brands to differentiate from the crowd of muted beige and light-yellow hues found in traditional ciders. In consumer testing, consumers consistently opt for vibrant reds and purple colours in beverages because they perceive these to offer more health benefits. Of course, this would apply only to colours from natural botanical sources.

When formulating natural colour solutions for Cider, there are two factors that should be taken into consideration:

  1. The Cider’s pH Level
  2. Alcohol Content

Acidity can have an impact on the performance of natural colour and colouring food solutions. For example, anthocyanins, commonly derived from black carrot or elderberries, require a low pH environment to deliver vibrant and stable red to pink hues. Conversely, if the acidity level is not ideal, these colours may shift or lose their colour vibrancy over time. For those aiming to achieve unique green hues, stabilized versions of copper chlorophyllin are required to maintain performance in low-pH cider formulations.

Alcohol content in cider typically ranges between 3.5% to 12% ABV in the European market, and while alcohol itself does not directly alter colour formulations, it can indirectly influence stability through interactions with other ingredients. When there is a higher content of alcohol in cider, colours based on vegetable sources tend to be more stable than fruit extracts.

Sensient’s technical team specializes in developing natural colour solutions tailored to the unique challenges of cider formulation, including pH and alcohol content. Together we create a well-balanced formulation ensures that your cider maintains its appeal from bottling to the last pour.

Different Ciders 1
Cider Innovation through Colours
apple-cinnamon

Delicious Red:

Custom blends including Anthocyanins for shades of reds cue both the flavour and health benefits of red fruits, including apples.

golden-brown

Golden Browns:

Natural brown is an alternative to caramel coloring that appeals to consumers looking for simpler ingredient labels

I would love to talk to any cider brewers or operators who are interested in spicing up their ciders with natural colour. We also have natural colour solutions, like Pure-S Orange, available for refreshing and crisp tropical cider innovations. The possibilities are endless and very colourful!

Please feel free to request a consult with my team here.

Sources:

(1) economic-report-web.pdf

(2) Speaking with Cider Explorer: European Cider | CiderScene

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