Apple growers tap juicy revenue stream

Associated Press

GRANVILLE, N.Y.

With hard cider making a hardcore comeback across the country, apple growers are tapping a juicy new revenue stream by establishing farmstead cideries and planting varieties too tart or tannic for the lunch box but perfect for smashing and fermenting into distinctive artisanal brews.

“We’re planting a lot of new trees so we can meet the demand for cider,” said Dan Wilson, owner of Hicks Orchard and Slyboro Ciderhouse on the Vermont border in Granville. “This year we planted 2,000 cider varieties, and next year we’ll plant 2,500 in high- density orchards.”

Slyboro is among 10 craft producers who banded together to form the Hudson Valley Cider Alliance to establish hard cider and apple spirits as signature products of the region.

“Decades ago, the apple industry had different segments,” Wilson said. “Some grew high-quality fruit for the fresh market. Others grew for the juice market. That market vanished when China became a huge exporter of apple-juice concentrate selling at below the cost of production here. Now, with hard cider coming back, there’s a market for juice-quality apples of special varieties for cider makers.”

In New York, the nation’s second-largest apple producer behind Washington, orchards got market assurance last fall when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Farm Cidery law. It created a special license for manufacturers that source all their cider apples from New York growers.

New York now has 29 hard-cider manufacturers, up from five in 2011.

Sales of hard cider in the U.S. have tripled over the past three years to $1.3 billion in 2013, according to market research company Euromonitor International. The entry of beer giants such as Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors into the hard-cider market with their big promotional budgets is benefiting farm cideries as well.