Brothers Cider has launched an RTD tequila and lemon-flavoured cider containing agave nectar.
The new 5.5% ABV Perro Loco (Spanish for ‘mad dog’) will be available from November (rsp: £1.79-£1.99/ 330ml) and will target the 18-34-year-old market.
Consumer marketing manager Cheryl Sheppard said innovation had been the driving force behind cider but customers were increasingly bored with lager, RTD, and apple and pear ciders. “They are also demanding more than just another fruit-flavoured cider,” she said.
The launch comes less than a week after Hi Spirits released an RTD cider with tequila and lime (rsp: £5/ 3 x 330ml pack). It said the launch of Manzana Loca, ‘mad apple’, was a “logical step” for cider NPD following the growth of spirit-flavoured beers and fruit ciders and would open up opportunities in the growing RTD market.
“The growth in sales of spirit beers, flavoured ciders and products such as alcoholic ginger beer has given the RTD category a real boost, and we definitely see an opportunity to further expand the market,” Hi Spirits MD Dan Bolton said.
Mark Hopper, head of innovation and development at SHS Drinks, which owns the Merrydown Cider brand as well as spirit beer Dead Crow, said there was still “stretch” within flavoured ciders and a genuine opportunity for further innovation.
“Spirit ciders present an obvious opportunity but the challenge is in getting consumers to understand what is different about the products,” he said. “Investing in educating consumers will play a really important and vital role in establishing spirit cider as a new category.”
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