Hard Cider Sales Are Down

Apple producers certainly have appreciated the fact that hard cider has been the trendy drink in recent years, but now it seems the trend may be dying down.

Big hard cider brands like Angry Orchard and Woodchuck have been affected in the past few months by growing competition and a slowdown in the sector as drinkers show a greater willingness to experiment and switch to other categories such as hard sodas. (I haven’t even heard of hard sodas!)

Total U.S. cider sales were down 3.4 percent in the 13 weeks ending November 7th, and the rate of decline accelerated to about 7 percent over the past four weeks. That’s enough to make Angry Orchard even angrier!

Four and five years ago, the rate of growth was in the triple-digits. Even a year ago, the pace of growth was nearly 50 percent. Beverage analysts say what really caught people off guard was the deceleration got worse with the introduction of (Coney Island) Hard Root Beer.

Cider makers are staking their hopes on the holidays--hoping that celebrations in November and December

may rekindle cider sales growth. (NBC News)