140 trade visitors, 15 speakers from 7 countries: Organizers "more than satisfied" with international trade conference on the cider market
Hesse is a stronghold of cider, the "Stöffche" is a cult drink. But not only there and in other regions of Germany, the drink known internationally as "cider" is also popular worldwide: it represents one of the fastest growing beverage markets; among alcoholic beverages, hardly any product is developing so dynamically. "The time was ripe for an international exchange among industry experts and market companions", Martin Heil, AICV President and Chairman of the Association of Hessian Cider and Fruit Juice Presses e.V., and Jean-Pierre Stassen, Vice President of the European umbrella association of cider and fruit wine producers AICV, agreed. The AICV, together with the Association of Hessian Cider and Fruit Juice Presses (Verband der Hessischen Apfelwein- und Fruchtsaft-Keltereien e.V.) and the Association of the German Fruit Wine and Sparkling Fruit Wine Industry (Verband der deutschen Fruchtwein- und Fruchtschaumwein-Industrie (VdFw)), had initiated the Global Cider Forum. 140 visitors - producers, suppliers, representatives from research and sales - came to Frankfurt for the 1st Global Cider Forum and followed the presentations of 15 speakers. "The fact that the first Global Cider Forum in the heart of Frankfurt met with such a great response makes us more than satisfied," says Martin Heil.
Speakers and visitors had travelled from 17 countries, including Sweden, Denmark and Finland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland and Italy. Participants from China and the USA had the longest journey to the Stadthaus am Markt, where the international conference was held.
The programme of the Global Cider Forum included presentations on the situation of the cider market in various countries and consumer research on new trends and other current topics such as cider in trendy gastronomy, as well as aspects such as the supply of raw materials and legal principles. The expert contributions showed, among other things, that the gap between beer and cider consumption is narrowing on an international average.
The reasons for the increasing popularity are the fresh, natural image of cider and the clear consumer demand for mild, not so strong alcoholic drinks. But it also became clear that the challenge is to keep first-time consumers in line.
The panel of speakers included Kevin Baker, Global Research Manager Beer & Cider at the UK's Global Data, Johannes Dorn of the Rheingold Institute, Fiona Curtin, Global Business Development Manager Heineken International (Amsterdam), Dr Jörg Krämer, Chief Economist at Commerzbank, and speakers from US Cider Makers. Zhao Hongyou, Director of the China Fruit Wine Industry, spoke about technological innovations on the Chinese fruit wine market. He predicted an unprecedented triumph of the apple and fruit wine industry for his country.
Between the individual presentations, forum participants had the opportunity to exchange views on the characteristics and challenges of the individual cider markets and to sample international cider products at several tasting booths. Already on the eve of the forum, a large part of the participants came together for a networking dinner.
"Cider is and remains Hessen's national and traditional drink, emotionally charged, especially because of the cultural landscape, the Hessian meadow orchards. The wine press houses have managed to reach as good as all target groups through the multitude of innovative new products. Nevertheless, cider scores with an international and younger target group due to its usually milder taste," Martin Heil concludes
