As our sportsmen do battle on the fields of Poland, Ukraine and Stratford this summer, another clash of the titans will be raging in the drinks aisle.
Strongbow and Stella Cidre are moving into pear cider, leaving industry observers wondering whether there is enough room in the pear market - currently worth about £77m in the off-trade - for both giants.
Clearly it’s still early days. Neither has revealed their marketing plans - in fact, Strongbow owner Heineken hasn’t even officially announced its move into pear. But already some in the trade are placing bets on who will win out.
Many feel Stella’s move is a shrewd one. They suggest the pear audience is different enough from the apple Cidre market for the launch to add to the brand rather than cannibalise it. Cidre could threaten Magners’ share of the pear market, however.
Some are more sceptical about pear Strongbow. They question how well it would sit with the brand’s masculine positioning. Its name even derives from a Norman warlord (Richard ‘Strongbow’ de Clare, as you probably already knew).
More recently, the brand has run an effective series of ads depicting Strongbow as a fella’s reward for a day’s hard graft. It’s hard to imagine that position being extended to pear: “I’ve just lugged a sofa up 25 flights of stairs - time to neck a pint made from a soft, mild fruit much-loved by baby food manufacturers.”
Perhaps Heineken should look to extend Strongbow in the way it has Foster’s with premium-positioned Foster’s Gold.
Sound good? Heineken agrees. In fact, it’s already done it - just not over here. Last year the brewer launched Strongbow Gold in Milan - a 5% abv cider designed to be served over ice.
The roll-out has been supported with some terrific - and very manly - ads showing hordes of strapping archers mercilessly slaughtering an apple orchard.
You’d never see a pear-drinker doing that.
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