While overall alcohol consumption in Australia continues to decline, consumption of cider has surged, according to a new report from market research group IBISWorld.
Predicting that alcohol consumption will continue to decrease by 0.1 percent during 2017-18 – partly due to government-led programs aimed to reduce alcohol consumption – IBISWorld also says that overall, “alcohol consumption is changing”, with consumption of beer, wine, spirits and RTDs declining but cider concurrently surging over the last five years.
“Consumer tastes are projected to continue shifting towards locally produced premium products from craft cider breweries over the next five years, contributing to solid growth in the cider production industry,” IBISWorld industry analyst Bao Vuong explains in the report.
President of Cider Australia, Sam Reid, told Beer & Brewer that he “can’t argue” with the findings.
“Cider sales have surged over the past 5-10 years. The category growth is well and truly slowing now, however as IBIS are pointing out we expect to see the demand for locally grown and made cider that suits a more mature discerning palate to continue to show strong growth over the next 5 years,” he said.
“At this premium end of the market the category is very vibrant and we are continuing to see a focus on purpose grown cider fruit, which I predict to be the next big growth driver for the category after the expected growth from ciders made from 100 per cent Australian apples.”
The alcohol consumption forecast is part of an index of health indicators IBISWorld have used to create a ‘health consciousness index’, alongside smoking rates, fruit and vegetable consumption, obesity levels and participation in sport.