ACA Now Accepting Speaking Proposals for CiderCon 2024

CiderCon® is the world’s premier networking and educational event for the professional cidermaking community. CiderCon® 2024 will take place in Portland, Oregon from January 16-19, 2024. We invite presentation proposals from qualified experts who meet the criteria of being able to educate cidermakers, apple growers, cidery owners, retailers, wholesalers, marketers and other cider industry professionals about best practices, new trends, research, and improving processes.

Successful proposals will state clearly:

  • Target Audience – role in industry as well as business model.
  • Skill Level – is material is best for beginner/intermediate/ or advanced attendees.
  • Educational Goal – what skill, tool or new understanding will attendees walk away with?

COMMITMENT TO INCLUSION
We are committed to ensuring CiderCon® is a safe and welcoming space for all regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, disability or sexual preference. We strongly encourage BIPOC, LGTBQIA+, veterans and speakers with disabilities to submit proposals.

Additionally, we invite speakers from outside but related industries to cider. Our industry will be strengthened with fresh perspectives.

Particular topics of interest we seek applicants for through this RFP:

  • Compliance
  • Branding
  • Marketing
  • Distributor Relationships
  • Chain Retail Sales
  • DtC Sales
  • Market Trends
  • HR
  • Finance
  • Operational Safety
  • Team Leadership
  • Equity & Inclusion

Proposals are due to the CiderCon® committee by June 1, 2023. Approved speakers receive a complimentary pass to CiderCon® 2024 which includes lunch for 2 days.

ACA Seeks Guest Country for CiderCon 2024

CiderCon® is one of the most robust, diverse, thorough and connected professional cider conference in the world. We pride ourselves on being a host to international attendees year after year. The 14th annual CiderCon® will take place in beautiful Portland, Oregon from January 16-19, 2024. We expect well over 1,000 people to attend. We are requesting proposals from other countries to send a diverse representation of their regional cidermaking community to be featured guests of honor at CiderCon® 2024. Previously featured countries are Spain, France, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland. Guests from these countries continue to attend future CiderCons because of the quality programming and because CiderCon® is an exchange of ideas, understanding and knowledge that enriches the global cider community. 

Costs: The American Cider Association will waive CiderCon® registration fees, provide up to 5 nights hotel for up to 4 cidermakers, and pay for and help coordinate cider imports for educational sessions. Guest countries are asked to further fund cidermaker expenses (airfare, taxi, per diem). Cidermakers may also fundraise through sponsorships, and we are happy to brainstorm strategies. ACA will also provide professional photos of cidermakers participating in CiderCon®, suitable for PR uses by their home country. 

Proposals will be considered on the following priorities: (A) evidence of guest country financial commitment (B) compelling cider story (C) depth of cidermaking knowledge for proposed speakers (D) diversity of proposed speakers, in cider style, cider opinions, and demographics. We are also prioritizing countries that have not been featured before. 

Countries in close proximity to each other may want to team up if there are less cideries available in their own country. We welcome creative proposals. 

Proposals are due June 1, 2023 at 5 PM Pacific Time. Please contact Michelle@ciderassociation.org if you have any questions. 

2023 Cider Excellence Award Winners Announced

The American Cider Association announced the award winners at CiderCon® 2023 in Chicago

The American Cider Association (ACA) was pleased to announce the recipients of their annual Cider Excellence Awards at CiderCon® 2023 in Chicago last week. CiderCon® is the ACA’s annual conference and took place in Chicago, Illinois from January 31 – February 3, 2023 this year. The ACA established these annual awards at CiderCon® 2015 to honor individuals, businesses, and organizations from around the country for their achievements in and contributions to the U.S. hard cider industry. The highest honor given each year is the award for Significant Impact on the Cider Industry, and the ACA awarded Ria Windcaller of CiderChat and Sean and Malaika Tyson of CiderSoms these honors this year. In addition, Elizabeth Ryan of Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider was awarded the Apple Advocate Award.

“Each year at CiderCon® we gather together as an industry and a community. It’s both an opportunity to learn and to celebrate,” says Michelle McGrath, CEO of the ACA. “The awards we give out each year reach to all corners of the industry and are an incredible way to highlight the contributions of so many.”

Part of the ACA’s mission for their awards is to celebrate the retailer and wholesaler tiers of the cider industry. Many of the awards go to restaurants, bottle shops and distributors who are doing well in their efforts to promote the diversity of the cider segment. As cider is highly regionalized and heavily dependent on local markets, most of the awards are given by region. 

Each region includes the following states:

  • East: CT, MA, ME, PA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT
  • Midwest: IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, MO, OH, WI, KY
  • Mountain West: AZ, CA, CO, NM, NV, UT, WY, SD, ND, KS, NE, OK, TX
  • Pacific Coast: CA, HI
  • Northwest: OR, WA, ID, MT, AK
  • South: AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV, MD, DE, DC 

The ACA Cider Excellence Awards fall into seven categories: Best Cider Retailer Award; Best Cider-Focused Establishment Award; Best Cider Distributor Award; Outstanding Pommelier Award; Member Appreciation Award; Significant Impact on the Industry Award; and the Apple Advocate Award. With the exception of the Member Appreciation Award, Significant Impact on the Industry Award, and the Apple Advocate Award– all other awards are given to one individual or organization within each member region.

Learn more about the 2023 Cider Excellence Award winners below.

Photo by Brandon Buza

Significant Impact on the Industry | Ria Windcaller is the producer and cider emcee at Cider Chat, a weekly podcast with over 350 archived episodes with makers, cider enthusiasts, and folks in the cider trade around the world. She founded Totally Cider Tours in 2018, leading both national and international group cider tours yearly. In 2022, she produced CiderDays 2.0, a three-day event held in western Massachusetts complete with tastings, workshops, author talks, a cider pop up, cider tap takeover and a cider dinner focused on celebrating women in cider. She is also an award-winning hobbyist cidermaker and cidermaking instructor.

Photo by Brandon Buza

Significant Impact on the Industry |Malaika and Sean Tyson fell in love with cider in 2006 and soon after began their blog Cider Soms  to introduce wine lovers to cider. Since then, they have become an integral part of the cider community through their dedicated coverage of cider and cidermakers through their blog and social media channels. In addition, they have spearheaded conversations about increasing cider’s diversity and have volunteered countless hours in support of the ACA and the cider industry.

Photo by Brandon Buza

Apple Advocate | Elizabeth Ryan is the producer of Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider. She is a renowned fruit grower and cidermaker and has studied cider making in Somerset and Hereford in England. She has a degree in Pomology from Cornell University. She made her first barrel of cider there as a student in 1980. She is one of the founding GrowNYC Greenmarket farmers. She received the Cornucopia award from Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture and was a Smithsonian Fellow. She was a keynote speaker at the NY State Governor’s Alcohol Summit where she pushed policy that would support small-scale hard cider production.

A full list of winners follows.

Best Cider Retailer Award (Non-Cidery Off-Premise)

Best Cider-Focused Establishment Award (Non-Cidery)

Best Cider Distributor Award

Outstanding Pommelier Award (Bartender, Retailer or Distributor Representative)

Member Appreciation Award

  • Schilling Hard Cider, Portland, OR
    • Awarded for their support of CiderCon® and invaluable cider networking
  • Yonder Cider, Wenatchee, WA
    • Awarded for their leadership with our equity and inclusion programming
  • South Hill Cider, Ithaca, NY
    • Awarded for their leadership with our educational programming and regional ambassadorship

Significant Impact on the Industry Award

  • Malaika and Sean Tyson, The Cider Soms
    • Awarded for spearheading conversations about improving cider’s diversity, for promoting cider through their blog, and for being tireless volunteers 
  • Ria Windcaller, Cider Chat Podcast
    • For creating a source of learning and a space for storytelling in the cider community with her podcast since 2015

Apple Advocate Award

  • Elizabeth Ryan, Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider
    • For telling the stories of New York apples, for growing apples, for being a pioneer orchardist and cidermaker

Further information, media interviews, award recipient bios and photos available upon request. Please contact Michelle McGrath at michelle@ciderassociation.org.

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 cider 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 2023 Board of Directors

The American Cider Association is pleased to announce the results of this year’s board elections. Congratulations to new board members Sarah Hemly and Breanne Heuss, and welcome back returning board members Dave Takush, Philippe Bishop, Marcus Robert, Talia Haykin, and John Behrens.

The board also re-elected Eleanor Leger as Board President, Brooke Glover as Board Vice President, Dave Takush as Board Secretary, and John Behrens as Board Treasurer.

Visit our About Us page to learn more about all your American Cider Association board of directors. 

Director-At-Large Seat

Dave Takush

2 Towns Ciderhouse

Corvallis, Oregon

Director-At-Large Seat

Philippe Bishop

Alpenfire Cider

Port Townsend, Washington

Northwest Regional Chair

Tieton Cider Works

Yakima, Washington

Pacific Coast Regional Chair

Sarah Hemly

Hemly Cider

Cortland, California

Mountain West Regional Chair

Talia Haykin

Haykin Family Cider

Aurora, Colorado

Midwest Regional Chair

John Behrens

Farmhaus Cider Company

Hudsonville, Michigan

Large Cidery Seat (>1 million gal/yr)

Breanne Heuss

Golden State Cider

Sebastopol, California

CiderCon® 2023 Fact Sheet

  • The 13th annual CiderCon® was held in Chicago, Illinois from January 31 – February 3, 2023, celebrating a return to Chicago after a four year absence.
  • 965 people registered for CiderCon 2023, including attendees, vendors, volunteers and speakers.
  • Attendees were from 40 different states including Alaska and Hawaii.
  • New York had the most registrants followed by Michigan, Illinois, California, Washington, and Virginia.
  • Attendees from 9 different countries participated in CiderCon®, including Austria, Canada, France, Guam, Ireland, Korea, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
  • The ACA welcomed keynote speaker Sunny Gandara, former Global Wine Director for the Mathew Kenney Restaurant Group and the founder and owner of The Plant Curious Table, a digital dual-purpose education and wine consulting company, to CiderCon® 2023. Her talk explored vegan market growth and trends, who plant-based consumers are, why cider is perfect for this growing group, and how to market to these consumers.
  • There were 38 educational sessions held during CiderCon® covering topics in the areas of Better Business, Cider Production, Branding, Marketing & Sales, Orcharding, and Apples, Flavor & Terroir. The Cider Institute of North America helped to develop the cider production track sessions once again. The schedule can be downloaded HERE.
  • There were 12 tasting sessions, including a traditional perry tasting with Claude Jolicoeur, author of the recently released Cider Planet and of The New Cider Maker’s Handbook, which has been acclaimed worldwide as a major reference on the topic of cidermaking. Other tasting sessions included orchard trials from New York state, sensory analysis sessions, and sessions addressing pet nat cider, carbonation, blending, and spontaneous fermentation.
  • There were several data driven sessions featuring speakers from the National Beer Wholesalers Association, Market Technology, Sovos ShipCompliant, 3 Tier Beverage, CGA Strategy, and Good Beer Hunting.
  • Mary Guiver of Whole Foods Market Inc and Mark Venegoni of SpartanNash joined CiderCon® 2023 on our retail panel discussing how to create positive relationships with chain retailers.
  • The ACA once again offered its Certified Pommelier™ exam at CiderCon® 2023. The Certified Pommelier™ is an advanced second level designation of the ACA’s Certified Cider Professional program geared toward beverage and hospitality industry professionals. Close to 40 people sat for the challenging test that includes a blind sensory evaluation section. The new cohort of Certified Pommeliers will be announced in 6 weeks. 
  • About 150 individuals participated in tours for CiderCon® 2023, including tours featuring Chicago’s cider scene, an historical tavern tour, a Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and cider tour, and a tour of the Bronzeville neighborhood, beloved as a center for African-American life and culture in Chicago.
  • There were numerous networking opportunities, including a Newcomer Networking session, a BIPOC Cider Professional Meetup, a Pomme Pride Meetup for LGBTQIA+ cider industry professionals, and an Orcharding Meetup.
  • The TTB and the FDA both held sessions at CiderCon® 2023 and were available to attendees to answer questions regarding topics ranging from labeling to licensing to recipes.
  • The Trade Show sponsored by FruitSmart featured 92 vendors from around the country and the world, and featured several new vendors as well as many who have returned year after year to support the cider industry.
  • The American Cider Association’s annual board elections happen concurrently with CiderCon®. Newly elected board members were announced during lunch on Friday. New board members welcomed are Sarah Hemly of Hemly Cider as Pacific Coast Chair and Breanne Heuss of Golden State Cider, and newly re-elected board members are Dave Takush of 2 Towns Ciderhouse and Philippe Bishop of Alpenfire Cider, both to At-Large Seats, Marcus Robert of Tieton Cider Works as Northwest Chair, Talia Haykin of Haykin Family Cider as Mountain West Chair, and John Behrens of Farmhaus Cider as Midwest Chair.

CiderCon® 2024 will be held in Portland, Oregon from January 16-19, 2024.

CiderCon® was created to offer the commercial cider industry an outlet to meet, share ideas, collaborate and affect positive changes in cider making and cider fruit production best practices, the cider market and cider regulations. CiderCon® is organized by the American Cider Association whose mission is to grow a diverse and successful U.S. cider industry by providing valuable information, resources and services to our members and by advocating on their behalf.

ACA Calls for Award Nominations

The American Cider Association is pleased to announce that we have opened nominations for the ACA Awards for folks who are doing great things for cider! We welcome your nominations for businesses and people who have been excellent ambassadors for cider in the last year.

Please nominate only one business or person per category. Businesses should not be cideries, but those who help promote cider through their support of cideries and cidermakers. Please submit your nominations by January 13, 2023. Only submissions from active members will be accepted.

We will be presenting awards in each ACA defined region in the following categories:

  • Best Non-Cidery Off-premise Cider Retailer in Your Region
  • Best Non-Cidery Cider Focused Establishment (bar, restaurant, etc.) in Your Region
  • Best Cider Distributor in Your Region
  • Pommelier of the Year (a cider tender who excels at promoting cider, cidery employees can be nominated for this award)

Awards will be presented at CiderCon® 2023!

Register Now for CiderCon 2023 and Win a Hotel Stay for CiderCon 2024

Have you been procrastinating on registering for CiderCon® 2023? If you have, now is the time to do so before registration prices rise and the hotel room block deadline arrives. (Registration prices go up on January 10 and the deadline for our hotel room block is January 8!)

As an added incentive for registering ASAP, we are offering a raffle for a five night hotel stay for CiderCon® 2024 (in a TBA location) for anyone who registers between December 20, 2022 and December 31, 2022 at 11:59pm Pacific Time for CiderCon® 2023 in Chicago.

Ready to register and enter for your chance to win this awesome prize?

CiderCon® Scholarships Continue for 2023 Conference

Yonder Cider, Beer Kulture and the American Cider Association have partnered to continue CiderCon® scholarship opportunities this year. These scholarships are designed to bring new BIPOC individuals into the cider industry. The scholarship includes: registration to CiderCon®; travel and lodging; Certified Cider Professional Level 1 bundle (including the exam); two Certified Cider Professional Sensory Webinars; and the registration fee for the Certified Pommelier™ Exam. Applications can be found here and the deadline to apply is December 10, 2022. Recipients will be contacted to schedule a brief interview and winners of the scholarship will be notified on December 21, 2022. CiderCon® 2023 takes place January 31 – February 3, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois.

Cider Share at CiderCon® 2023

Join us for our beloved welcoming reception, Cider Share, at CiderCon® 2023! The Cider Share reception will take place Wednesday, February 1 from 5:00 to 8:00pm.

Haven’t been to a Cider Share before? Here’s what to expect:

50 (yes 50!) cideries from around the country and the world will be serving their ciders for attendees to enjoy. Learn about the ciders from the cidermakers and their staff, meet fellow cidermakers from your region, mingle with other CiderCon® attendees to connect with old friends or make new ones! Cider Share will be limited to 400 people this year so make sure to add Cider Share during the registration process! Tickets are $20.

Want to serve your cider at Cider Share? Here’s how:

Featured cideries will be chosen using a lottery along with considerations of geography and style. If you would like to be considered as a featured cidery at Cider Share 2023, please select that choice during the CiderCon® registration process. The lottery drawing will be held in early December and those selected will be notified via email with further details.

ACA Welcomes Wine Industry Professional Sunny Gandara as CiderCon® 2023 Keynote Speaker

The American Cider Association welcomes wine industry professional Sunny Gandara, DipWSET, CWE as the featured keynote speaker for CiderCon® 2023. Sunny is the former Global Wine Director for the Mathew Kenney Restaurant Group and the founder and owner of The Plant Curious Table, a digital dual-purpose education and wine consulting company. Sunny has nearly 20 years of experience in the food and wine industry with a focus on plant-based foods. Her expertise is connecting with “plant curious” clientele over her wine knowledge. She is a Certified Wine Educator and Specialist of Spirits through the Society of Wine Educators and a holder of the WSET Diploma. She is a professionally trained chef through the Institute for Culinary Education (ICE) in New York and a Vinitaly Italian Wine Ambassador.

According to the Plant Based Foods Association, “one-third of Americans are actively reducing their meat and dairy consumption. While a small number of Americans identify as vegetarian or vegan, flexitarians represent the largest growth opportunity for plant-based foods.” 60% of Gen-Z wants to eat more plant-based foods and 79% eat plant-based 1-2 times a week. This is where Sunny’s “plant curious” lens can help open new markets up for cider.

 As the keynote speaker, Sunny will explore vegan market growth and trends, who plant-based consumers are, why cider is perfect for this growing group, and how to market to these consumers.

CiderCon® 2023 will take place in Chicago from January 31 to February 3, 2023, at the beautiful Hilton Chicago. Early registration closes November 9. Learn more about all our fantastic speakers at www.ciderassocation.org.