European countries formed over half (56%) of global cider consumption in 2023, data shows.
West Europe drunk the lions share – 1.28 billion litres, amounting to 49% of the total, according to figures from GlobalData, Just Drinks’ parent company.
In value terms, West Europe spent $7.46bn on cider last year, compared to $2.42bn in North America, its second largest market in both value and volume. Consumers in the US and Canada drank 250 million litres.
The global cider market was worth an estimated $14.2bn in 2023, with 2.6 billion litres drunk, according to GlobalData.
The UK is the world’s largest-consuming cider nation on a per-capita basis – drinking 840 million litres of cider in 2023 worth $4.37bn.
Spain is the second-largest consumer in Western Europe, followed by Germany and France. South Africa is the second-largest market globally, after the UK.
It comes as GlobalData analysts last week questioned the long-term profitability of cider as speculation swirled around a potential sale of UK beer and cider maker C&C Group.
“Cider has not seen particularly strong growth in recent years, having seen increased competition from pre-mixed spirits and, to a lesser extent, the emergence of hard seltzers in West European markets,” David Harris, alcoholic beverages research director at GlobalData, said.
He added: “Cider demand does not really travel outside of the UK and pockets of Western Europe.”
So where should the category look for future growth opportunity?
“In terms of future growth, cider faces a dilemma as to whether to promote the category,” said Kevin Baker, head of global beer and cider research at GlobalData. “Stressing its heritage; the use of real apples; traditional production methods etc., or to consider it as part of a wider “fruity and refreshing” RTD category.
“Most consumers are fairly fickle when it comes to category loyalty and tend to view cider as one of many options, including radlers, flavoured beersand alcoholic soft drinks such as Bacardi Breezer and Smirnoff Ice.”
Last week, Ireland-headquartered C&C Group faced calls from a minority investor to sell, calling the business “a perennial underperformer”.
New York-based Engine Capital, which said it invested in C&C Group four years ago, said “structural and self-inflicted issues” had led to the company’s “under-performance and valuation discount”.
The firm owns just under 5% of the Ireland-listed drinks company and said it wants a review of the business “aimed at a sale”.
Analysts told Just Drinks they were skeptical of how much interest C&C could garner from potential buyers, not least of which because C&C's portfolio is heavily skewed towards cider.
Harris said: “I think C&C is in a tough spot and I’m not surprised their board is looking at a strategic review. C&C’s portfolio is very heavily based in cider, with a spread across apple and flavored ciders.
“It’s only notable brand outside of cider is Tennent’s (beer), which is performing okay, but is again exposed to industry trends due to being an “old-fashioned” lager.”
