Board
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.
The American Cider Association (ACA) has been quiet on social media for the last two weeks. We’ve been listening, learning, and working on a sincere, actionable response. When it comes to standing up for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) we have made critical mistakes in the past and we have done harm with our silence. We recognize that we have a lot to learn, that we will make mistakes while we are learning, and that we will grow from those mistakes. We recognize that our ability to write an email like this comes from a place of privilege.
The ACA believes Black Lives Matter. We acknowledge the injustices faced by Black individuals and we stand in solidarity with those raising their voice for change. Our society upholds white privilege in unjust ways and the cider industry and the American Cider Association are dominated by white voices. We have long felt that failure to support BIPOC in the beverage and hospitality industry falls on us as an association, but we have not taken meaningful action on those feelings. Today, it’s too easy for us to feel accomplished with a donation or a hashtag. Instead we are challenging ourselves to invest in lasting change for our organization and our industry. Our commitment to antiracism in the cider industry starts here:
- ACA commits to sending out a monthly newsletter with antiracism resources to our members for the next 12 months.
- ACA commits to participate in antibias and diversity training at the board and staff level within the next six months.
- ACA commits to additional seminars and discussions at CiderCon 2021 around diversity, equity and inclusion.
- ACA commits to not promoting cideries that use racist language or imagery.
We also challenge our members to join us in creating this needed change throughout our industry. You can actively take on this challenge in your lives and businesses in the following ways.
- Collaborate with Black-owned businesses and hire Black employees and contractors. Many communities have business directories you can use to identify Black-owned companies.
- Commit to providing antiracism and antibias training to your cidery’s employees, no matter their role. If you need help finding such resources, let us know.
- Become a patron of a black-led educational platform and participate in the readings, resources and challenges.
As part of our commitment to providing antiracism resources to our members, we will share some of the tools we mention above with our members in the coming months.
As a cider community, we must address the history that has led to a food and beverage industry that rewards racist ideals, and we need to learn how to undo those systems. It’s not easy work, but together we can move toward an equitable and inclusive cider industry that directly recognizes the contributions of Black individuals and celebrates the racial diversity in this country.
Please join us in this work moving forward. Hold us accountable, ask questions, demand transparency, and join us in doing the work.
We thank our Diversity Committee for their support in helping us do this difficult work. Learn more about our committees and our organizational statement of intent regarding Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for the cider industry.
American Cider Association Board Announces New Seats for 2020 Election
With over 900 cider producers and counting, the cider industry is a mosaic of business models, cider styles, geographies and individuals. Since we first earned our non-profit status in 2014, American Cider Association has worked to push forward programming that benefits everybody in our industry’s ecosystem. One way we do this is by making efforts to ensure different types, sizes and regions of cideries have representation on our committees and Board. This requires regular evaluation as the industry continues to grow and our programming adapts to meet the industry’s needs.
Recently, the Board of Directors paused to examine the structure of our membership regions and board. Two changes were the result of that reflection.
American Cider Association Creates Pacific Coast Membership Region for California and Hawaii
Our membership elects regional chairs to the board of directors. The Mountain West region previously included Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. Geographically, the region is vast to say the least.
With over 100 cider producers and counting, California is vying for the most-producers-per-state distinction. The American Cider Association board felt that between unique market challenges and sheer number of producers, it was time to carve out a new region that included California. Hawaii, previously in the Northwest membership region, will also be included. We are calling this new membership area the Pacific Coast region. Next January will be the first opportunity for members from this region to elect a chair to the board of directors.
American Cider Association Board Hopes to Recruit Small Producers
The cider industry is comprised of many small operations and a few larger ones. Although we currently have smaller producers represented on our board (45% of our board members produced under 60,000 gallons each in 2018), we want to be sure that the smallest cideries are always at the table. These smaller cideries are a large volume of our membership and the industry, and we want them to feel welcome and listened to. We are adding a new ‘At Large’ seat to the roster, and we are strongly encouraging producer-growers from small-by-design cideries to run for this seat in the 2020 election.
2020 Board Elections
There are new three-year terms starting for the following 5 board positions:
Regional Chairs (4) (under 1M g/yr)
- Midwest (IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, MO, OH, WI, KY)
- Northwest (OR, WA, ID, MT, AK)
- Mountain West (AZ, CA, CO, NM, NV, UT, WY, SD, ND, KS, NE, OK, TX)
- Pacific Coast (CA, HI)
At Large (1)
- We are strongly encouraging producer-growers making less than 25,000 gal/year to run for this seat.
Considering running? Please join us for this information webinar on November 20 (11AM PST/2PM EST). We’ll discuss what it’s like to serve on the board and answer any questions. All board positions are volunteer roles.
Representation
Our board is increasingly diverse in some measures, but it remains homogenous in others. We have initiated efforts to address representation on our board, in the industry, and throughout the cider consumer base. Fostering diversity and equity takes commitment, and we’ve just begun our journey to define this goal and its strategy. We hope you’ll join us in inviting our colleagues of underrepresented groups to be involved in the association.
Electronic Voting
Last year we switched our voting to 100% electronic to allow our members to vote regardless of whether or not they can attend CiderCon. The voting will take place as the same time as CiderCon, January 28-31, 2020
American Cider Association Solicits Feedback On Cider Styles
It is the American Cider Association’s mission to move our industry forward and grow a cider community that is successful and inclusive, entrepreneurial and diverse. That’s why the USCAM’s style guidelines are a living document – a work in progress, open to new information and new perspectives. We encourage anyone to provide feedback through our annual style survey [Click here to access], which will be open through July 31st. Additionally, our board has begun to reach out individually to members of our diverse cider community. In particular, we have been hearing anecdotally from Heritage cider producers at CiderCon® and elsewhere about various concerns with that label. These concerns were augmented by discussions raised by a recent article.
In the coming weeks we will be soliciting feedback from all producers who primarily make that style of cider, and will use that feedback to plot a responsive course of engagement and action. It won’t be fast or easy, but we are dedicated to progress for the entire cider community. The American Cider Association is committed to inclusivity, and hope you will join us as we grow.
2019 Board Nomination Period is Open
Every year at CiderCon we honor the service of our board of directors throughout the previous year. We also hold elections for rotating board seats. About a third of the board is up for election each year. Our board is structured such that full members (active cidery level member employees) hold the seats. We have regional chairs and a limited number of designated large cidery seats. The remaining seats are designated “at large.” Service terms are for three years and these are strictly volunteer positions. Meetings are held monthly, via teleconference.
We are opening the self-nomination period for this year’s elections today.
Which seats are up for election?
- At Large Any full member producing under 1M gallons of cider a year qualifies to run. Votes cast by active cidery level members at large producing under 1M gallons. (There is a by law vote happening at CiderCon that would immediately open the At Large seat eligibility to large cideries. See next post).
- Large Cidery Any full member producing over 1M gallons of cider a year qualifies to run. Votes cast by active cidery level members in the large cidery category.
- Eastern Chair (CT, MA, ME, PA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT) Any full member producing under 1M gallons of cider a year with business headquarters in the American Cider Association Eastern Region qualifies to run. Votes cast by active cidery level members producing under 1M gallons in the Eastern Region.
- Southern Chair (AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV, MD, DE, DC) Any full member producing under 1M gallons of cider a year with business headquarters in the American Cider Association Sourthern Region qualifies to run. Votes cast by active cidery level members producing under 1M gallons in the Southern Region.
Candidates are encouraged to declare candidacy early so they may connect with American Cider Association’s executive director in advance of the membership meeting in Chicago. Candidates representing view points. currently underrepresented on the board are also encouraged to run.
These documents, always available on our website, may help you when considering candidacy:
To self-nominate, please fill out this form by clicking here.
Reach out if you have any questions!