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2019 American Cider Association Board Election Results
Cider Association Elects 2019 Board of Directors
Paul Vander Heide of Michigan Reelected as President
Portland, OR (February 8, 2019) –The American Cider Association (American Cider Association) elects a new slate of directors and officers each year during its annual meeting which takes place during CiderCon – the industry conference for American Cider Association members held each February. CiderCon 2019 took place at the Hilton Chicago from February 5 to February 8. At CiderCon this week, American Cider Association welcomed new leaders, reelected others and thanked those retiring their service for all they have done to support a growing cider industry.
Paul Vander Heide of Vander Mill Cider in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been reelected to the office of President by the American Cider Association Board of Directors. Paul has served on the American Cider Association board since February 2016. During that time, he has been committee chair for American Cider Association’s Certified Cider Professional program, a cider credentials program similar to Cicerone for beer. Paul had previously served as American Cider Association Secretary and Vice President before being elected American Cider Association’s President.
“The beverage industry continues to change at a rapid pace and cider has its own unique challenges and opportunities,” said Vander Heide. “We are stronger when we work together, and I’m proud to continue to do my part to advocate for cider industry stakeholders across the country.”
Vander Heide also sits on the boards of the Michigan Cider Association and the Cider Institute of North America.
“This is the first year American Cider Association members have been allowed to vote for board members whether or not they were physically present at CiderCon,” says Michelle McGrath, Executive Director of American Cider Association. “We made the change to ensure that all members have a voice in the selection of the American Cider Association leadership team.”
ADDITIONAL American Cider Association BOARD OFFICERS FOR 2019
Brooke Glover of Swilled Dog Hard Cider in Franklin, West Virginia, was elected as American Cider Association’s Vice President. Brooke joined the American Cider Association Board in 2018 and will continue to serve as a Member At Large.
Ben Calvi of Vermont Hard Cider Company in Middlebury, Vermont returns for a second term on the board and was reelected as Treasurer by the 2019 American Cider Association Board of Directors.
Eric Foster of Stem Ciders in Lafeyette, Colorado, serving the third year of his first term, was reelected by the board to continue as the Secretary of American Cider Association.
OTHER DIRECTORS: In addition to its Officers, the American Cider Association Board consists of Regional Chairs, Members At Large and three Large Cidery Seats. Eleanor Leger, Eden Specialty Ciders of Vermont and David C. Thorton from James Creek Cider House of North Carolina have been elected to represent Eastern and Southern cideries respectively. Leger returns for her second term after a one-year hiatus. “I would like to support and promote the work of regional associations, and will work to build a strong and vibrant cider community in the Northeast,” says Leger.
Commenting on his election, Thorton says, “I’m pleased to be able to contribute to the board’s current ‘big tent’ philosophy in promoting the growth of the industry at large by aiding in the definition and standardization of product language, and through consumer education about various product styles. I feel strongly that development of cider as a beverage sector will open doors for smaller orchard based and niche producers to increase sales by increasing awareness.”
Continuing their service on the board are these Regional Board Chairs:
Eric Foster of Stem Ciders in Colorado representing the Mountain West;
Marcus Robert of Tieton Ciderworks in Washington representing the Northwest; and,
Dan Young of Tandem Cider in Michigan representing the Midwest.
In addition to their board officer duties, Paul Vander Heide has been reelected as an At Large Member, and American Cider Association Treasurer Ben Calvi has been elected a Large Cidery board member. Other At Large board members include Brooke Glover of Swilled Dog Hard Cider and Sam Fitz of ANXO Cider in Washington DC. Additional Large Cidery board members include Brian Shanks of Bold Rock Cider in Virginia and Ryan Burk of Angry Orchard in New York.
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MISSION: The American Cider Association is an organization of cider and perry producers in the United States. Its mission is to grow a diverse and successful U.S. cider industry by providing valuable information, resources and services to American Cider Association members and by advocating on their behalf.
For more Information Contact:
Michelle McGrath | Executive Director
American Cider Association
Michelle@ciderassociation.org
PRESS RELEASE: American Cider Association Announces Certified Pommelier Objectives
American Cider Association
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The beer, wine and spirits industries all have recognized certification programs designed for food and beverage professionals. The hard cider industry has had its own version—the Certified Cider Professional (CCP) program—since 2016 through the American Cider Association (American Cider Association). Until recently, the CCP program only had one level, geared toward cider servers. Next month American Cider Association administers the exam for the second level of the CCP program for the first time. It’s being touted as their ‘pilot’ exam and will be offered in Chicago during their annual trade conference, CiderCon. Those who pass the test, with its mix of short answer, essay and tasting oriented questions, will earn the title of Certified Pommelier™. American Cider Association announced a study guide for test-taker hopefuls on their website today.
The study guide covers six sections: Apples, the Orchard & History; Cider Making; Flavor & Evaluation; Cider Styles (US and Europe); Keeping & Serving; Food & Cider. These are the same topics covered in the level one exam, but there are noticeable differences in the suggested study concepts for the two tests. To start, the list of apples to know is greatly expanded, for the new exam. Test takers are told they should be able to assign to the apples to region, style and classes bittersharp, bittersweet, sweet or sharp. These classes are determined by acid and tannin levels. The second key difference is the inclusion of traditional European cider styles for the UK, Spain, France and Germany.
“The test is designed to be challenging,” says American Cider Association’s executive director, Michelle McGrath. “Studying is highly recommended. We have some handouts on certain topics available on our website, but the books in our recommended reading list are going to be very helpful preparation.”
“If test takers don’t have experience identifying cider flaws, we suggest they sign up for the ‘Elements of Cider Workshop’ being offered in Chicago on February 5. The instructor, Charles McGonegal, has been teaching people how to distinguish cider characteristics for many years.”
McGrath explains that the expansion of the CCP program is all part of the association’s vision that bars, restaurants and retailers celebrate the diversity of the cider category. American Cider Association’s recent release of version 2.0 of their cider style guide works toward that same goal.
“Cider sales were up 10% in 2018,” added McGrath. “Enthusiasm is growing, and we hope, an expanded awareness of the cider category as a whole can help further sustain this growth.”
The association plans to offer the test four additional times in 2019. Dates and locations are yet to be announced.
You can sign up for the Certified Pommelier exam and find study aides at ciderassociation.org/certification.
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CiderCon Contest!
How does a cider vacation sound? Pretty good? Well, here is a chance to go on one for FREE! To enter, simply book your room for CiderCon 2019 in Chicago at the Hilton by January 18!
GRAND PRIZE: We’re giving away “The Ultimate California Cider Vacation” to one lucky winner to attend CiderCon 2020 in California. What’s included?
- Airfare to Oakland or San Francisco, California (including transportation expenses from the airport to the hotel)
- 5 nights lodging at the Oakland Marriott
- FREE CiderCon 2020 registration in Oakland, CA–including tours (SONOMA! or SANTA CRUZ?!) & tastings!
- A $50 Gift Card to Redfield Cider or Crooked City Cider–winner’s choice
- VIP cider share entry
- Free tickets to the Bay Area Cider Week event of your choice
GRAND PRIZE RULES
- Airfare is for continental US only. Foreign tickets will be provided an equivalent travel stipend up to a max amount.
- Airfare is for 1 person.
- Airfare and hotel are only good for the week of CiderCon 2020: January 27-February 1, 2020.
- Winner’s name will be pulled at CiderCon 2019. Name on entry ticket is based on name given to reservation desk at the Hilton Chicago.
- Reservations at the Hilton CiderCon 2019 must be confirmed and fulfilled to qualify.
FIRST PRIZE: Want your Hilton Chicago room comped for CiderCon 2019? We’ll be choosing one lucky winner to do just that! We’ll through in a gift certificate for $50 to The Northman Chicago, too! We will comp up to 3 nights hotel maximum.
SECOND PRIZE: American Cider Association board member cider prize! 1 lucky person will go home with a box of cider from our board member’s respective cideries all over the country.
How to enter?
(1) To enter, you must stay at the Hilton Chicago when attending CiderCon 2019 in Chicago. CiderCon 2019 attendees staying offsite will not qualify.
(2) Hilton reservations must be made by January 18, 2019 to qualify for entry.
(3) Hilton reservations must be completed–canceled reservations will not qualify.
(4) Winner names will be pulled based on reservation holders name.
(5) Sorry, former or current American Cider Association board members or staff do not qualify for entry.
Our Executive Director Made Wine Enthusiast’s Top 40 Under 40 Tastemakers List!
PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release
Contact helenkanebaldus@gmail.com for follow up or images
Article Link: https://www.winemag.com/
Featured image by Scott McDermott
Cider Association Executive Director Makes 40 Under 40 Tastemakers List By Wine Enthusiast
Portland, OR [August 21, 2018] – The American Cider Association (American Cider Association) is thrilled to announce that its executive director, Michelle McGrath, has been named a 2018 40 Under 40 Tastemaker in the U.S. by Wine Enthusiast magazine. The Wine Enthusiast 40 Under 40 list recognizes the young winemakers, brewers, beverage directors, grape growers, and other movers and shakers who are changing today’s beverage industry.
“I am humbled and honored to receive this distinction,” exclaimed McGrath. “The most thrilling part is the well-deserved national recognition it means for cider.”
American Cider Association is a young association, formally designated in 2014. McGrath became the association’s first executive director in the summer of 2016. In just two years her impact and leadership is visible through increased membership, a growing general awareness of cider styles and an ever-improving CiderCon—the industry’s annual conference.
“Michelle has brought real professionalism to a young organization,” shared Paul Vander Heide, owner of Vander Mill Cider and American Cider Association Board President. “Her engagement with members, industry stakeholders, and policy makers has dramatically advanced our mission to support and grow the US cider industry.”
McGrath credits her success to the association’s passionate members, especially its board of directors. “I’ve worked with several boards in past roles, and I’ve never come across one as effective as American Cider Association’s. It’s why we can do so much with so little. All of our volunteers deserve so much credit.”
McGrath has managed to lead an extremely diverse industry towards category-wide standards, by overseeing the creation and development of the association’s consumer-facing cider style guide—the first of its kind, adopted in October 2017.
“Cider as a category is not just one thing, but an incredible variety of styles and points of view,” said American Cider Association member and cider author, Darlene Hayes. “It’s a challenge to represent such diversity.”
McGrath is up for that challenge, according to Stephen Wood, founder of Farnum Hill Cider and American Cider Association volunteer. “McGrath has shown herself to be equally adept at working among the diverse continuum of groups that make up the U.S. cider industry, from large market-driven cider makers to smaller orchard-based cider makers, processors and suppliers to advisors and advocates.”
Under her strategic direction, the association is attacking the development of new programming to support and grow the cider industry. From promoting cider education through the association’s Certified Cider Professional Program (CCP), to advocating for the fair and accurate treatment of cider with the government and the media to leading the creation of cider-specific market data, she’s taken the role of championing cider seriously and fiercely.
“Michelle is the real deal. She works tirelessly and diligently with cider makers across all regions of the US to help raise the profile and market share of American cider,” said Jolie Devoto, founder of Golden State Cider and American Cider Association Member. “She’s supporting a dialogue about cider on a massive scale.”
McGrath’s goals are not quaint. “I want US cider to be the most coveted cider in the world. I want every bar in America to feature multiple styles and understand the story behind our category. I want to double our market share. US cider deserves to be celebrated. I applaud Wine Enthusiast for doing that within their 40 Under 40 program.”
The October issue of Wine Enthusiast will feature the 40 Under 40 tastemakers selected for 2018, including McGrath.
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Congratulations to Michelle!
American Cider Association Member Updates for April 2018
We know how important industry statistics are to you and the rest of the cider community. We’ve been busy working to bring you the highest potential possible from our partnership with Nielsen. We’re excited to have several updates for our members about this partnership:
- Nielsen is extending a special packaging design offer to our active members with a multi-pack product (4- or 6-packs). This is an opt-in model-group study and thus costs 90% less than an independent study. On top of that savings, as an active member, you will receive a $300 discount to take part. Contact Nielsen by APRIL 12 to sign up. Want to learn how this audit will help launch your brand to next level? Read more here. To ensure that these benefits are reaching the industry members paying for their appropriate membership type, we will only be offering the Nielsen opt-in study to our active cidery-level members. If you are a member at the Home-Cider Maker or Cidery-in-planning levels and wish to participate in the discounted audit, please contact us to update your membership.
- On April 26, Nielsen is offering an encore webinar on the 2017 market trends. This will be like the CiderCon encore webinar offered last year except with current data. The webinar link will go out to our members with active, paid-up accounts.
- We will have the first annual report of on- and off-premise trends available to members shortly. This exclusive benefit includes an executive summary and in-depth spreadsheets from Nielsen containing on- and off-premise data for 2017. The data is broken down by aggregate national and regional brands as well as by total US market and regional markets. We will be sharing an option for subscribing to quarterly reports at the time of this first report’s release. Stay tuned!
These benefits are exclusively for our members. We deeply appreciate the critical support members like you provide us. Together, we can grow our voice and our resources to aggressively and strategically promote our innovative, apple-centered industry–a booming industry at that, with 30% growth of regional cider brands in 2017. American Cider Association is doggedly pursuing benefits like these to help our members succeed. Expect more to come.
Please log in to your account to make sure that your membership for John Doe is up to date. This will allow you to take advantage of these benefits. If you are an employee at John Doe, make sure you are linked to their account–the membership bundle admin at your company can log in and add you for free. If you need any assistance updating your membership, contact Ellen.
Cider Week Baltimore Schedule of Events
American Cider Association gained non-profit status in 2014. Right at the get-go, we adopted a structure to support the diversity of our membership
By Bruce Nissen, Board President, bruce@ldbbeverage.com
American Cider Association gained non-profit status in 2014. Right at the get-go, we adopted a structure to support the diversity of our membership:
(1) Tiered membership levels based on annual production.
(2) Board seats carved out for geographical regions and for large producers.
Our board functions with 11 seats: five are regional chairs, three are at-large, and three are set aside for large producers. These carved-out seats simultaneously provide for the inclusion of large producers and keep their influence in balance. Until now, the large producer benchmark has been a half million gallons a year. 500,000 gallons of cider was a lot for even our most widely-distributed members in 2014.
Today, our industry has changed. You are expanding distribution, adding production lines, and entering new markets. It’s great news for the cider industry. To reflect this phenomenal growth, we are updating our benchmark for large producers. Moving forward, the three large producer board seats will be for cideries making more than a million gallons a year.
The diversity of American Cider Association’s membership is our greatest strength. We have cideries of all shapes and sizes, and we work hard to make sure our programming supports all your needs. For example, we will have an entire track for orchard-based heritage cider producers at CiderCon 2018.
It pleases us to need to respond to your growth. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, and thank you for growing with us!
By the way, if you are producing 500,000-999,999 gallons a year, your membership fee will be lower as a result of this change. Good news for you!