“Cider Excellence Award” Winners Announced at CiderCon® 2024 in Portland, Oregon

The American Cider Association (ACA) announced the recipients of their annual Cider Excellence Awards at CiderCon® 2024 in Portland, honoring individuals, businesses, and organizations from around the country for their achievements in, and contributions to, the U.S. hard cider industry. 

Award winners this year included:

  1. Award for Significant Impact on the Industry | Emily Ritchie, Executive Director, NW Cider Association
  2. Award for Significant Impact on the Industry | Brighid O’Keane, Executive Director, Cider Institute of North America
  3. Apple Advocate Award | Representative Earl Blumenauer, Oregon
  4. Apple Advocate Award | Jake Mann, Five Mile Orchard, California
  5. Member of the Year | Ploughman Cider, Pennsylvania 
  6. Member of the Year | Seattle Cider, Washington 

The highest honors given each year are the awards for “Significant Impact on the Cider Industry,” which this year went to Emily Ritchie of Northwest Cider Association for her admirable work promoting the cider industry for the Northwest region (OR, WA, ID, MT & British Columbia), and Brighid O’Keane of Cider Institute of North America for her global efforts to provide rigorous education on quality cider production.

In addition, US Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon was awarded the “Apple Advocate Award” for his enduring commitment to level the playing field for cideries through legislation, as well as orchardist Jake Mann for his ongoing partnership with the cider community through his historic family ranch in California, Five Mile Orchard. “Member of the Year” awards were given to both Seattle Cider of Washington and Ploughman Cider of Pennsylvania for their ongoing efforts to give back to their communities and the cider industry. 

“This is one of my favorite moments at CiderCon® each year, when we gather together as a community to celebrate people committed to moving the dial for cider,” says Michelle McGrath, CEO of the ACA. “It’s truly humbling to see how much passion and hard work goes into supporting and growing this industry.”

Now in its 9th year, the Cider Excellence Awards were held on January 18th, 2024 at CiderCon®, the ACA’s annual conference, which took place this year in Portland, Oregon from January 17 – January 19, 2024.

2024 Cider Excellence Awards from the American Cider Association 

Emily Ritchie, NWCA

Significant Impact on the Industry | Emily Ritchie is the Executive Director of the Northwest Cider Association, a trade nonprofit that brings cideries and cider lovers together to learn, experience, and enjoy the Northwest cider culture. Representing 100 commercial cidermakers from throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia, the group is dedicated to supporting, promoting, and growing its thriving industry. Emily’s vision of a vibrant, collaborative industry where anyone can share in the success and joy of cider, is brought to life through her strategic thinking and hard work. Her efforts have successfully helped put the Pacific Northwest at the heart of the craft cider movement. 


Brighid O’Keane, CINA

Significant Impact on the Industry | Brighid O’Keane is the Executive Director of the Cider Institute of North America (CINA). CINA is a nonprofit organization of cider industry professionals and educators with a mission to create a quality-driven and sustainable cider industry through education and research. Brighid’s dedicated work to develop curriculum and procure funding for research has helped grow the cider industry by empowering cidermakers through expertise and experience around the globe. Her extensive efforts have helped usher improved quality through CINA education for new and experienced cidermakers alike, thus helping to elevate the reputation of the US hard cider.


Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR)

Apple Advocate | Representative Earl Blumenauer (OR) is a US Congressman (OR-D) who has advocated for the US Hard Cider Industry for more than a decade by introducing impactful legislation. In 2015, he introduced the Cider Act, which supported American cideries by lessening an unfair tax burden, removing unnecessary red tape, and allowing cider to be more competitive internationally. And this year, he has introduced the Bubble Tax Modernization Act, to amend a minor carbonation tax disparity that has historically had major negative impacts to cidermakers. Earl Blumenauer has championed small businesses and spoken at length about the immense positive impact craft industries have on the economy. (Find out more about the Bubble Bill here: https://ciderassociation.org/reps-blumenauer-kelly-introduce-bubble-bill/)


Jake Mann of Five Mile Orchard

Apple Advocate | Jake Mann (CA) is rooted in farming. His family has been growing apples in the fertile Pajaro Valley two hours south of San Francisco near Watsonville since the mid-19th century. This unique place has long specialized in growing Newtown Pippins. Jake also actively pursued relationships with cidermakers so that more and more Newtown Pippin single variety ciders made by cideries throughout Northern California proudly announce the Five Mile Orchard as the source of their fruit. An active participant in CiderCon® for many years, Jake is always ready with a smile and an infectious eagerness to continue his family’s legacy by growing amazing apples for cidermaking. 


Photo by Brandon Buza

Member of the Year | Ploughman Cider (PA) is a Pennsylvania-based cidery with a long history of supporting their community and helping lift up the cider industry in their state. As active leaders in their state’s cider guild, Ploughman Cider has had a tremendous impact on shaping the local industry. They have also served as an incubator for fledgling cidermakers with their creative collaborations. They are actively committed to the ACA’s mission and mission-related programming, and the ACA is proud to recognize Ploughman Cider for their contributions to both Pennsylvania and the cidery industry at large.


Photo by Brandon Buza

Member of the Year | Seattle Cider (WA) is a Washington-based cidery that has repeatedly stepped up as a leader in the cider world. Their commitment to giving back to their community through thoughtful collaborations, like their partnership with the nonprofit City Fruit, has lifted the bar for what’s expected. They proactively work to create a welcoming environment for all through their taproom programming and several of their team members serve on committees and boards for both the American Cider Association and the Northwest Cider Association. Seattle Cider is being recognized as Member of the Year for their immense contributions to their local community and the cider industry. 


About the American Cider Association

The American Cider Association is an organization of cider and perry producers in the United States.  It gathers and shares information about cider production, regulations, and apple growing to help members improve their operations, raise awareness, and advance cider in the market. The organization was founded in February 2013. Learn more at ciderassociation.org.

Meet Your 2024 ACA Board of Directors

Last Friday, the American Cider Association (ACA) announced the results of their annual Board of Directors Election at their 2024 industry trade conference, CiderCon®, held this year in Portland, Oregon. There were two At-Large positions up for grabs, with 7 candidates in the running.

Josie Mielke of Urban Orchards Cidery in Asheville, North Carolina and Shannon Edgar of Stormalong Cider in Sherborn, Massachusetts were elected as Directors At-Large. Both new board members bring a shared passion for the land and communities that they are a part of. Their unique perspective of establishing and growing their cider businesses within the last 10 years will meaningfully contribute to the perspective of the ACA Board of Directors and how the ACA can support the cider industry. 

New ACA Board Members

Josie Mielke is the Operations Director and founder of Urban Orchard Cider Company in Asheville, North Carolina. She was trained in the art of cider making in the United Kingdom at the Cider and Perry Academy in 2012 and opened Urban Orchard in the fall of 2013. Through Urban Orchard, Josie has championed North Carolina agriculture, by committing to purchase apples from North Carolina. Her cidery has only purchased juice from Hendersonville, North Carolina in the 11 seasons they have produced cider. Josie strongly believes in promoting the local economy, supporting local farmers, and knowing where your food comes from.

Shannon Edgar founded Stormalong Cider in 2014 in the pursuit of making ciders that showcase the unique flavors fermented from cider-friendly apples. Taking inspiration from the hard cider history in his adopted home of Sherborn, MA, the historical nature of some of these apple varieties and their connection to New England history has always been an interest to him. Over the last 9 years, Stormalong has grown into a passionate team of “Cider Geeks” evangelizing cider with a deep appreciation for apples and their craft.

2024 Officers Announced

The ACA Board Officers were also chosen by the incoming board of directors last week. The ACA is excited to announce:

-Christine Walter of Bauman’s Cider in Oregon as Board President

-Sarah Hemly of Hemly Cider in California as Vice President

-Dave Takush of 2 Towns Ciderhouse as Secretary

-John Behrens of Farmhaus Cider in Michigan as Treasurer.

Eleanor Legér, ACA Board President 2021-2024

Eleanor Legér of Eden Cider in Vermont was elected by her fellow directors as Board President in 2021. She is rotating off the executive committee to empower other leaders but will remain on the board in her continued role of Eastern Chair. First elected to the board in 2015, the ACA is incredibly grateful for her long and dedicated service to our mission and our members. She has served the role with honor!

Retiring Directors

Soham Bhatt and Brooke Glover are both retiring from their service as directors this year. The ACA is extremely grateful for their service and the unique perspectives they brought to the board.

Soham Bhatt served on the ACA Board of Directors in an At-Large position from 2021-2024. He started Artifact Cider Project in 2014, with co-founder Jake Mazar, with the desire to create exceptional cider that expresses the Northeast as it is today. With this philosophy and a commitment to helping sustain local orchards, especially in western Massachusetts, they started Artifact as a boot-strapped passion project that crisscrossed the state.

“Soham has been a very engaged and committed board member. He asks good questions and has a mind for strategy. He’s been critical to our education committee, and we’re excited that he will stay involved with our work to grow the Certified Cider Professional program moving forward,” said ACA CEO, Michelle McGrath.

Brooke Glover served on the ACA Board of Directors in an At-Large position from 2018-2024. Brooke is one of the owners of Swilled Dog Hard Cider, a family-owned company based out of West Virginia. Brooke is a Certified Cider Maker through CINA, Level I certified in Spirits through WSET, and a frequent lecturer at WVU. Her passions include dogs, family, learning, adventures, and tater tots.

“Brooke didn’t miss a single board meeting in her 6-year tenure on the board of directors. She has served on several ACA committees and has been a tremendous member of the ACA Executive Committee in her role as ACA Vice President,” McGrath said.


The ACA would like to thank all of the 2024 board candidates for their hard work and dedication not only in this election process but within the industry as a whole. We look forward to continuing to work together to push the envelope forward for cider in America. 

IWSC International Wine & Spirit Competition Applications Due June 7

This summer, the IWSC, in partnership with Cider Is Wine, is bringing its international drinks awards to Somerset, South West England, to judge cider, perry, and fruit wine made from 100% juice, not from concentrate.

Renowned for expertise, influence, and personal approach, the IWSC is proud to champion entrants from across the cider category.

Learn more and apply today: https://iwsc.net/alternative-drinks/cider

Making An Impact During Pride Month Through Company Culture

In the United States, pride marches and parades trace their roots back to 1970 when they were created to mark the anniversary and commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City.  Today Pride Month is celebrated every June across the country as a means to create a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community to be visible and wholly themselves. But what if there are ways you could create that space within your cider company culture all year long?

Learn more about the LGBTQ+ acronym

This Pride Month, we invite you to create a work environment that makes your LGBTQ+ employees feel safe and valued. In all of these examples, your entire organization will be better poised to thrive by pursuing the steps outlined.

  • Review company policies that impact leadership and employee pipelines for LGBTQ+ employees: Do your anti-discrimination policies mention LGBTQ+ individuals? Have you evaluated your employee pipeline to see if you are creating opportunities for leadership development with your LGBTQ+ employees?
  • Support your staff’s mental health. Provide paid mental health days and create opportunities for mental health-restoring company group activities. Support human resource speakers talking to your team. Consider formal mental health benefits. Be aware of anti-LGBTQ+ events highlighted on the news and how that might emotionally impact employees.
  • Offer paid parental leave regardless of gender or biological/adoptive birth. 
  • Commit to learning and using the proper language. The language about the LGTBQ+ community evolves fast. Showing a commitment to using the right terms goes a long way in earning trust. 
  • Center the Trans experience in your inclusion efforts. As a leader, using your pronouns when you introduce yourself is validating for your transgender staff. Don’t make pronouns mandatory (some employees may not be out as trans individuals) but create space for others to follow suit when they are comfortable to do so. When pronoun wishes are shared by staff, honor them. Have a gender-neutral bathroom available.
  • Take an affirmative public position on LGBTQ+ inclusion and belonging. This can be through events, social media or partnerships. Some great examples include Seattle Cider Company partnering with Queer Mountaineers to support a safe space for outdoor enthusiasts of all backgrounds, genders, and sexualities; Diskin Cider Co. hosting Drag Brunch in Nashville and partnering with Tennessee-based LGBTQ+ affirming organizations to do so; and 1911’s PRIDE Cider connecting back to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (a NY-based organization promoting free gender expression and working to improve equal access to quality social, health, and legal services). Avoid “rainbow washing” by creating and standing by policies that will protect and uplift the LGBTQ+ community.

You can find more in-depth resources for creating a workplace that is inclusive below: 

Nominations for 2022 ACA Board of Directors Open

Running for the ACA board of directors is a great way to get involved in lifting our industry up. We are actively recruiting individuals from US-based cider companies to run for the board of directors. These are volunteer positions with a three year commitment. Active membership of the association is required and candidates must be permanent employees or owners of active bonded-cideries to run. Board seats up for election this year include:

  • “At Large” (Open to all regions and cidery sizes)
  • LARGE Cidery (>1M gal produced in 2020)
  • Southern Regional Chair (AL, AR, DC, DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
  • Eastern Regional Chair (CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT)

Interested candidates should complete the self-nomination form by January 25:

Have questions about board service? Reach out to Michelle. 

Do you know who is on the current board? Meet them HERE.

Developing a more diverse and equitable cider industry and association is a long-term project that requires conscious iterative investment at every stage. Our board is actively working toward goal development in this area (read a blog post from our board vice president, Brooke Glover). We believe that representation matters in reaching those goals and we are thus encouraging diverse candidates including women, BIPOCs, LGTBQIA+, veterans and people with disabilities to run for the board of directors.

CiderCon 2022 Health and Safety Guidelines

The American Cider Association is taking utmost precautions to create a safe CiderCon environment. Our health and safety guidelines require all persons present at CiderCon 2022 to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 21 or to provide a negative PCR test within 3 days of arrival or to provide a negative antigen test within 24 hours of arrival. One of these two things, proof of vaccine or a negative test result within the above timeframe, will be required to attend CiderCon 2022. Verification will happen outside registration at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Absolutely no exceptions will be made.

Per Virginia Department of Health and CDC recommendations, we are currently strongly urging attendees to receive booster shots against COVID-19 by January 21, 2022. The CDC recommends receiving a booster shot if it has been 6 months since your second mRNA or first Johnson & Johnson shot. 

Additional precautions:

  • Masks must be worn at all times at indoor CiderCon events with the exception of during meals and tasting events where specific safety protocols will be in place. This includes tour buses. 
  • Security and staff will enforce mask adherence. 
  • CiderCon staff and volunteers will participate in daily health screenings.
  • At this time, the hotel and the Greater Richmond Convention Center require their staff to wear masks.
  • Tasting sessions will be in expansive rooms and will be socially distanced as much as possible.
  • The Cider Share welcome reception is being divided into two sessions, with featured cideries rotating off. We will be capping attendance of Cider Share to 200 per session. The room has the capacity for 600, and we will encourage social distancing. 
  • Thursday’s and Friday’s lunches are box lunches so you can easily opt to eat where you would like. Tables will be set at less density than normal. 
  • Please do not attend CiderCon with symptoms. 

We are working closely with the hotel, the Greater Richmond Convention Center. and the Virginia Department of Health to ensure all possible safety precautions are taken. The list above is not exhaustive and we will be sure to update registrants as things evolve. 

We are carefully monitoring the COVID-19 restrictions in Richmond and Virginia. Your safety matters to us.

Let’s take care of each other, get boosted, wear our masks, and have the safe in-person CiderCon reunion we are all craving! 

You can read our complete Health & Safety Guidelines here.

Advocacy Update: In Support of Harvest Dates

The American Cider Association (ACA) recently sent a letter to the TTB voicing the ACA’s support of a specific proposed labeling rule included in Notice 176, published in late 2018. 

NOTICE 176

The notice contained proposed rules for modernizing wine (including cider), spirits and malt beverages labeling and advertising regulations. The ACA, many regional cider guilds and dozens of our members submitted comments on the notice during the official comment period. The comments included support for many but not all of the proposed rules. 

Some positive change has resulted from those comments. We are hopeful our letter will usher further TTB announcements in favor of our official comments first made in 2019. This letter is our third mention of our support of harvest dates since our official comments posted.

OUR LETTER

The ACA’s recent letter to the TTB reiterated our support for the Notice 176 proposal to allow the use of harvest dates on qualifying wines and ciders. Harvest dates would create an important opportunity to distinguish a maker’s cider from season to season. Read our letter for further details of the proposal and our reasons for supporting it.

THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY

Our members’ support allows the ACA to amplify the voice of cider and to develop relationships with the TTB and others for the benefit of our industry. Through the collective power of our members, we have a stronger voice for cider when it matters. Our recent letter in support of harvest dates is one example of our commitment to advancing the needs of all cider producers, big or small. 

We are grateful for the TTB for seeking the input of industry members regarding the proposed rules in Notice 176, and we eagerly await further announcements regarding the creation of harvest dates. 

Exploring Geographic Indicators for Cider

Dear ACA Members, 

For the last year and a half, the American Cider Association has been working closely with our partners at the New York Cider Association and key stakeholders in the wine industry and government to explore how harvest-driven ciders over 7% ABV might benefit from a system of geographic indicators. We all know the impact of place and time on a cider can be profound, yet because of the legal structure of American Viticultural Area (AVAs), certain appellations are prohibited on ciders requiring a certificate of label approval from the TTB. 

State and county appellations are available to qualifying ciders but place names that may or may not overlap with an AVA are usually a ticket for a COLA rejection. 

This is understandably frustrating to cideries whose ciders are influenced by the climate, soil and topography of their geographic location. 

Our approach to exploring appellation in cider is to be thorough and cautious. The language outlining the legal structure for AVA is complicated and adopting the same structure for cider would have profound, and in my opinion, potentially negative effects on the cider industry. So the solution will need to be specific to cider, as cider deserves. 

ACA and NYCA are working on this project together because our members’ voices on the need for a geographic indicator beyond county and place are crystal clear. It’s important to know this work is very complex. This is a long term project requiring legal experts, financial resources and perhaps Congressional action. It also requires the continued input of members like you. 

We want to hear from you. We’ve put together this brief survey to begin learning more about your needs on indicating the geography of your cider as part of Phase 1 of this project. ACA is giving away a free hoodie to two lucky survey takers! We know this time of year is busy for you so we will keep the survey running through this calendar year. If you are interested in being more involved in this work, you can let us know in the survey. We look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely, 

Michelle McGrath

Executive Director 

American Cider Association

P.S. I know that wine and cider labeling regulations are confusing. Geographic indicators complicate things even more. I’m excited to share that the ACA is rolling out a member resource library later this month. The library will house compliance information for our members among many other tools and resources. We will add new tools to it every quarter. Stay tuned for the official launch!

Quarter 2: A Year After The Great Stockpile

Included in your benefits as an active member of the American Cider Association are quarterly market trend reports that break cider out into regions, packaging type, flavor, draft and more. Today we are releasing the Quarter 2 data provided through our partnership with Nielsen. Year over year comparisons for the second quarter of 2021 are not very helpful for most CPGs, because what were consumers doing in April, May and June of 2020? Stockpiling goods. Cider was no exception—according to Nielsen, retail sales of the total cider category were up 13.8% for Q2 of 2020 and regional cider brands were up a shocking 40%. So what can we say about Q2 of 2021 with the knowledge that Q2 2020 deserves an asterisk?

In Nielsen-measured retail channels:

  • Regional brands of cider became the majority of cider’s market share in Q4 of 2020. That pattern persists in Q2 of 2021. These brands were only 25% of the market as recently as 2017.
  • Regional cider brands are up 34.5% compared to Q2 of 2019. They are down slightly at -3.5% when compared to Q2 of 2020 which actually highlights what cider is best at: share preservation.
  • Comparing YOY, regional cider brands are still positive for the trailing 52 weeks and will likely enjoy traditional Q3 seasonal growth. 
  • 6 packs of cans are the packaging type of choice for the moment.
  • Flavors that are up for regional brands when compared to Q2 2019 include apple, pineapple, cherry, berry and sours, but the “other” flavor category is up 42% when compared to Q2 2019.

The data included in the Q2 packet compares to 2020. Keep that in mind when drawing your own conclusions. My conclusion is that cider is sustaining a big portion of the growth it saw in 2020 to preserve its share of the market. With regional cider brands comprising the majority of cider’s market share, we may start to see overall share growth in the context of the beverage alcohol segment.

Retailers who are taking cider off the shelf right now are missing a huge opportunity. Fall cider sets are a big winner—”From summer to fall of 2020, cider’s share of the beer category grew from 4.3 percent to 5.2 percent” (Drizly). I wonder what the increase is for regional cider? Probably much greater.

There is a lot of discussion of “nostalgic” flavors at the moment. This may be a chance for cider to push apple-driven products as we see brands like Seattle Cider and Bold Rock doing.

As far as the return of on-premise? When on-premise came back on board last spring, all “beer” segments experienced growth. We learned from our webinar last month that cider had the greatest YOY growth of all the “beer” sub-segments (*Q2 volume share Nielsen 12w 2021). National cider brands lead the growth, with a 751% increase for drafts sales for Q2 YOY. Apple-driven ciders experienced the most growth of all the flavor segments.

Cider won’t quit.

For more information on regional, packaging and flavor trends, get the Q2 data package included in your membership.

BONUS: For a fun analysis of GLINTCAP winners in the fruit cider category, check out this blog from Old Orchard.