Thatchers bucked the trend of falling cider sales in the group’s 120th year to deliver record revenues.
The cider maker’s turnover grew 16.3% to £203.9m in the year to 31 August 2024 as prices hikes failed to deter shoppers from buying more.
This boosted Thatchers’ market share to 17.2% – it’s largest ever – as the brand took sales from cheaper rivals such as Strongbow.
Strongbow saw its UK sales fall over 5% last year, according to NIQ, as a drop in drinking dragged the whole cider category into decline.
“An ongoing trend towards premiumisation has seen budget brands decline, while quality, trusted brands like Thatchers are… outperforming the category every quarter,” Thatchers said.
A 10-pack of Thatchers Gold costs £11 in Tesco versus £10.25 for an equivalent pack of Strongbow.
Thatchers, founded in 1904 and now the UK’s second-largest cider brand, said unlike other cider makers it had opted against reducing alcohol strength due to tax changes, or running aggressive promotional pricing campaigns to try and boost sales.
Thatchers was not immune to difficulties, however, with inflation meaning despite the sales boost, operating profit grew just 3.4% to £15.6m.
A ‘summer of sport’ that included the Euros and Olympics also failed to give a bump in cider sales as predicted, largely due to poor weather.
But it continued to invest in its facilities with £14m pumped into improving its production and the completion of an automated warehouse system. A further investment of £24m is committed for 2024/25, including a new canning line.
The state-of-the-art warehouse connects directly to production, reducing vehicle movements, saving energy, and further minimising carbon footprint, Thatchers said.
It has also installed new technology to capture carbon dioxide created in the fermentation process and reuse it as bubbles in the cider.
It launched several new products last year, including Apple & Blackcurrant and ‘Juicy Apple’ ciders. Thatchers’ Juicy Apple is “powered by sunshine” – made using 100% green electricity.
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