Appeal of the Apple: Exploring Consumer Perceptions of Hard Cider in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States

Abstract

Alcoholic or "hard" cider is experiencing a resurgence in popularity, particularly throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Yet, many stakeholders struggle to understand how consumers define and distinguish hard cider amongst the sea of options in the saturated alcoholic beverage market. This study aimed to explore consumer preferences of hard cider using a phenomenological, qualitative approach. The research comprised 14 focus groups with regular cider consumers (99 participants) throughout three leading cider producing states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States: Virginia, Vermont, and New York. All focus group sessions were subject to reflexive thematic analysis for themes broadly related to cider product preference and the cider-drinking experience. Results of the study suggest that cider preference is motivated largely by sensory quality in addition to various other factors including perceived health effects, regionality and proximity, the drinking occasion, and product information. Results also emphasize the importance of nostalgia in cider sensory experiences, as well as the role of social norms in consumer valuation of cider products. Overall, this research highlights diverse consumer preferences for cider, and serves as a framework for using qualitative research methods to explore consumer preferences in the food and beverage industries.

Contextualizing hard cider flavor language and market position

“…Although cider has been made in the United States since before the Revolutionary War (Flynt, 2023), a number of factors-such as Prohibition in the early 20th century and changing consumption patterns from industrialization and immigration around the same time (Lea, 2015;Watson, 2013)-led to cider's almost complete disappearance from the market between the 1940s and the early 2000s (Lea, 2015). Consequently, consumers lack the shared knowledge about prototypical flavors and their relation to ingredients and processing that is more common for beer and wine consumers (Calvert et al, 2023c). Production information analogous to that for beer and wine-whether a cider is made from Honeycrisp or Harrison apples or whether it is made from apples grown in Virginia or Vermont-does not currently carry analogous information about how that cider will taste to a potential purchaser or consumer (Calvert et al, 2023d;Fabien-Ouellet and Conner, 2018).…”

“…Thus, it is apparent that there are distinct and potentially consistent variations across cider sensory characteristics and profiles in the United States. However, it is not clear that these sensory profiles are well understood by consumers or well explained and communicated by producers (Calvert et al, 2023a(Calvert et al, , 2023c(Calvert et al, , 2023dFabien-Ouellet and Conner, 2018).…”

“…As noted in the growing literature on hard cider, preferences are known to be heterogeneous, yet there is little formal economic analysis to define these consumer profiles (Tozer et al (2015) is the main study cited for economic work in this space). Moreover, only more recent research has addressed the issue of extensively describing flavor attributes in cider via sensory science methods (Calvert et al, 2023a(Calvert et al, , 2023c(Calvert et al, , 2023dFabien-Ouellet and Conner, 2018). Applying the newer knowledge of flavor language about hard cider to traditional choice experiments allows for an understanding of the value consumers place on such attributes.…”

Differences in the Volatile Profile of Apple Cider Fermented with Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Schizosaccharomyces japonicus

“…Cider is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of apple juice. The greatest production of cider is in Europe; however, in recent years, its production has aroused an increased interest, both in Eastern European nations without a history of cider consumption and in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States [1,2]. Becot and colleagues [3] reported that hard cider production has increased significantly in the United States, with an annualized growth rate of 50% between 2009 and 2014 with a total revenue of $292.5 million in 2014.…”

“…Becot and colleagues [3] reported that hard cider production has increased significantly in the United States, with an annualized growth rate of 50% between 2009 and 2014 with a total revenue of $292.5 million in 2014. The increased popularity of apple cider can be attributed to its freshness, sensory quality, and various other factors, including the territoriality, drinking occasion, and product information [2]. Furthermore, cider is rich in bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols, hydroxycinnamic acids, vitamin C, anthocyanins, and insoluble fibers [4].…”