CiderCon® 2021 Registration is Officially Open!
The 11th annual CiderCon® is happening during February 3-5, 2021. Ready to grab your tickets? Click here!
We are STOKED to start unveiling all the exciting components of this global virtual cider conference! Make sure you are following along on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for fun CiderCon® updates throughout the coming months.
What’s new for CiderCon® next year?
The answer is A LOT! We’ll get you started with these highlights:
- We’re grabbing the virtual bull by the horns and taking full advantage of this opportunity to host CiderCon® online. Our Virtual Trade Show is not to be missed (Hint: Easter eggs. All the easter eggs!). Interested in having a booth at our virtual show? Reach out to Ellen!
- ACA is offering BULK discounts for companies purchasing multiple CiderCon® tickets this year! Individual member-priced tickets are just $95. Contact Ellen for your discount code today.
- A special VIP CiderCon® swag bag sale is helping us raise funds for the Cider Production Education Fund set up by the Cider Institute of North America (CINA). CINA will match all donations until they meet their goal of three full scholarships for their online Foundation class in 2021. Visit our website to learn more about this!
- Flexibility of the virtual stage is allowing us to jam pack CiderCon® with educational sessions from cutting edge beverage, business and cider experts from all over the world. We are confirming more and more speakers each week, but let us kick things off by introducing you to our THREE main stage speakers:
Justin Doggett
Justin is the owner and founder of Kyoto Black, a small coffee business located in Edgewater, Chicago. Kyoto Black focuses exclusively on the Kyoto style slow drip method of brewing. Though Kyoto Black sprang forth from a simple hobby it now employs both him and his wife. Justin was an early adopter in the cold brew coffee craze and Kyoto Black is set to emerge from 2020 even stronger than before.
Michael Uhrich
Michael is the founder and chief economist of Seventh Point Analytic, former chief economist at the Beer Institute and former head of marketplace intelligence at MillerCoors. His estimates, forecasts, and analyses have informed billions of dollars in investments and improved performance among countless businesses large and small.
J Nikol Jackson-Beckham, Ph.D.
Dr. J is a scholar, writer, and equity and inclusion strategist who provides consulting and training to individuals and organizations in craft brewing industries. She is the founder of Crafted For All, a platform that works to bring the diversity of craft beverages to people and the diversity of people to craft beverages.
Economics and Demographics of the Alcohol Consumer (webinar recording)
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Get to Know Your Board Member: John Behrens
Welcome to our next installment of Get to Know Your Board Member! This time we’re featuring John Behrens, who represents the Midwest region, including the states of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Kentucky.
Where do you work and what is your position?
I am the owner of Farmhaus Cider Co. located near Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Do you work in cider full time?
Yes, I work in cider full time.
How did you get into cider?
I started out as a CPA, so it has been an adventure getting here. Cider for me started out as a fun challenge with friends, turned hobby, turned side project, turned business, turned full on way of life. I enjoyed the fact that it was niche and you couldn’t go to the store and purchase anything similar to what we were making, which was very different than was the case with beer at the time.
Why did you decide to run for a position on the board?
I believe there is still tremendous opportunity in cider. To see that opportunity we need to clear some legislative hurdles and focus strategically on how we as an industry market our products. I see the work of the American Cider Association in these two areas as critical to the long-term success of the industry.
What are your hopes for the future of the US Cider Industry?
I want to see much more diversity in the industry: diversity in the styles of cider commercially available, diversity from the people involved in the industry, and diversity in how we position our products. To do this, we must continue to focus the majority of our efforts and energies as an industry outward instead of inward.
How do you describe your cider region?
The Midwest Region is fortunate in that we grow a huge amount of apples here, and apples that make fantastic ciders. The challenge is that the Midwest is also a very beer-heavy region which leads to a huge amount of choice for consumers in the beverage space.
What’s your favorite apple to work with and why?
That is a tough question because I prefer a blend of apples, but I have a soft spot for apples with a story. Forced to choose I would probably go Spitzenburg.
What is your favorite cider/food pairing?
Risotto made with a dry cider pairs perfectly with an off-dry keeved cider.
What is your favorite nature/cider pairing?
Sitting under a shady tree on the shores of Lake Michigan drinking a dry, sessionable cider is tough to beat.
What would you like our members to know about you that they might not know?
I love a great adventure – whether running with the bulls in Spain, bungee jumping in New Zealand or doing volunteer work with Elephants in Thailand – I’ve had many great adventures and look forward to many more!
Get to know the rest of your board members at Who We Are.
CiderCon® 2021 Will Be Online!
Is CiderCon® 2021 happening? YES!! CiderCon® 2021 will take place online in our exciting virtual platform from February 3-5, 2021. (New to CiderCon®? Check out our fact sheet for last year’s CiderCon® to get an idea of what we’re all about!)
When can I register? Registration is open! Check out all the latest updates and register on our CiderCon® 2021 website!
What will CiderCon® be like next year? The same informative mix of educational sessions, networking opportunities, and trade show from the ease and comfort of home!
Will there be a trade show? Yes! We are very excited to be offering a trade show as part of CiderCon® 2021. If you’re interested in a virtual exhibit and the leads that come with that, please get in touch with our coordinator, Ellen.
Much more info is coming soon!
Get to Know Your Board Member: Nicole Todd
Five new board members joined the American Cider Association in 2020. We wanted to give you a chance to get to know them better. First up is Nicole Todd, who represents the Pacific Region, including California and Hawaii.
Where do you work and what is your position?
Santa Cruz Cider Co. in Santa Cruz, California. Owner/cidermaker/janitor.
Do you work in cider full time? If not, what is your other job?
Yes, I do full time cider for my company and part time brewer for a friend’s local brewery.
How did you get into cider?
We were looking to buy a house and toured a property with over two acres of apples and a tiny house. We did not end up buying it, but there was no one living in the house and it was harvest time, so we went back at night and filled our truck bed with apples. We pressed them into about 80 gallons of cider and shared with friends. Everyone liked what we were making so we went back and helped ourselves to more apples. Soon after, our friend Dave ended up buying that same piece of property and gave us free reign over the apples. It was then that we learned about the different varieties and qualities of each type and my love for apples blossomed.
Why did you decide to run for a position on the board?
I love the cider industry and everyone in it! All of the folks I have met in the industry are down to earth, hard working, real people. I wanted to be more involved in the cider community and help it grow.
What are your hopes for the future of the US Cider Industry?
That it will continue to grow and educate consumers about the wide variety of ciders available.
How do you describe your cider region?
I live in Apple City. No joke, a hundred years ago Watsonville, CA was the number one grower, packer, shipper of apples in the whole world, thus its nickname of Apple City. We have a lot of old apple orchards with 5th generation apple farmers still growing apples. While a lot of the orchards have since been taken out to make room for berries, we still have Martinelli’s being made locally and keeping the demand for our local apples. The Pajaro Valley is mostly flat with some rolling hills that lead into the Santa Cruz mountains. Orchards are planted all over the county with sizes ranging from one acre to 200 acre orchards.
What’s your favorite apple to work with and why?
I think there is something really special about the way Newtown Pippins grow in our area, I think there is a true terroir here. They are a good blending apple as well as good on their own. They cold store well and are great fresh off the tree too!
What is your favorite cider/food pairing?
Cider and cheese for sure! Especially a nice hard, salty cheese.
What is your favorite nature/cider pairing?
Beach and a dry cider on a hot day.
What would you like our members to know about you that they might not know?
I love dogs! I have always had them at home and the favorite part of my bar shifts is getting to pet the dogs other people bring in.
Get to know the rest of your board members at Who We Are.
📣 ACTION ALERT: Renew the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act
Cideries like yours are facing the harsh economic realities of a global pandemic. Congress needs to be proactive in supporting small businesses like yours right now, but they also need to protect you from further economic harm. In a normal year, raising Federal Excise Taxes could significantly damage our industry’s viability. In 2021, raising taxes could force hundreds of cideries to permanently close their doors. Join us in urging Congress to act urgently and make the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act permanent NOW.
This will impact all segments of the cider industry. It’s critical we work together in reaching out to lawmakers today or come January 1, your Federal Excise Taxes may go up significantly.
Please reach out to Congress today and tell them your business needs a break: Make the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act permanent!
Two New ACA Member Benefits
We admire hustle, but we hope that your ACA membership makes cidery life a little bit easier. We have two new benefits we’re eager to tell you about, plus some exciting things to look forward to!
1. 15% Discount off of CiderPros.com Job & Marketplace Listings
We’re honored to be a founding partner in CiderPros.com–a new jobs site for the cider industry. We’re thrilled to extend a 15% discount off of the cost of job and marketplace listings to our members. You can find the coupon code on our members page here (logging in required first step to access). We will update the code from time to time.
2. Cider Press List 101
If you are just ramping up your cider specific media outreach efforts, we’ve got a starter list to get you going. You can access the list here under our Marketing Tools section (logging in required first step to access). Thank you to the ACA Marketing Committee for curating this list for our members!
Need a refresher on best practices for submitting press releases to media? Download this CiderCon 2019 Presentation from media professionals Erin James and Caitlin Braam.
+Benefits in the Pipeline:
We’re excited to launch on-demand training for our Certified Cider Professional program and cider compliance guidelines this fall. We’ll also have some new market insights available soon. Stay tuned!
>Renew Your Membership Today
Are your having a hard time navigating our website to renew your membership? Email us and we can send you a quick invoice with a link to pay with a credit card. We’ve been affected by the COVID pandemic and your renewal today can have a huge impact. We have a small thank you for those who renew early by a month or more.
Q2 Nielsen Reports Ready For Download
One of the perks of combining our buying power as an association is that we can share valuable insights from Nielsen with you, our members.
You can now download our custom Q2 reports. In this data packet you will be able to access:
- Off-Premise Micro-Reports broken down for packaging type, flavor, and region–14 states and 6 regional outlooks. Available in both a 12-week and a 52-week outlook.
- Off-Premise Macro-Reports for Beer, FMBs and Cider. Available in both a 12-week and a 52-week outlook.
- On-Premise Reports for 6 metro markets.
- Nielsen PPT slide decks with charts, data visualization and insights on the cider category’s recent performance in both On- and Off-Premise.
- Bonus this quarter: Hard Seltzer off-premise report.
Here is an excerpt from a recent Nielsen survey about current overall consumer sentiment:
CONSUMER SENTIMENT REPORT SUMMARY BY NIELSEN
“Here are some high-level findings from a Nielsen survey of 18K+ consumers, fielded July 1-8, 2020.
- Since June, we have started to see some consistent trends not only for off premise alcohol, but also across many consumer good categories. That comes to life in consumer sentiment as well. 60% of households expect their routines to remain altered for at least the next 4 months
- Nielsen has shared insights in the past in several forms about how premiumization within off premise alcohol isn’t slowing down, and has in fact accelerated during COVID weeks. However, when it comes to total consumer goods, we are starting to see more cautious consumer sentiment in relation to spending. Approximately 4 in 10 (42%) of households say they are watching what they spend as a result of COVID.
- The homebody economy continues. When asked what % of time households eat meals or snacks at home versus outside of home, 39% of households said they ate 100% of their meals and snacks at home. An equal amount (39%) said they ate outside of their home only 10% of the time. As a comparison, when asked what their habits were prior to COVID, only 12% said they ate all of their meals at home.
- When asked what their plans are for the coming months, close to 1 in 3 households (28%) said they plan to eat all of their meals at home. That of course was lower for younger consumers age 21-34, and much higher for consumers age 65+.
- What about consumer plans if economic conditions get worse (recession and/or inflation)? When asked about things they would do to save money when shopping for beer or wine, 39% said they won’t change how they shop for it. However, nearly ¼ said they would buy less. That’s a slightly different story for households with lower income (<$30K), which said they would be more likely to stop buying it all together.”
Q2 2020 Nielsen Reports for Our Members
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8/25/20 Webinar Recording: State of Direct to Consumer-the Wine Perspective
This content is for members only.
If you were a member and are now seeing this message, please Renew your membership to continue.