English craft cider producers demand the same protection as champagne

theguardian.com:

From the crab apples pressed during the Roman conquest to the Kent orchards planted during the reign of Henry VIII, the making of British cider is one of the country’s finest heritage assets. So much so that craft producers are now demanding protection from modern commercial ciders with added water and fruit flavourings which they say are undermining the reputation of the traditional products.

They say leading supermarket brands such as Strongbow, Frosty Jack’s and Kopparberg cider may contain more added water than apple juice. They are calling for new regulations as part of the government’s review of alcohol duty.

John Lawrence, founder of Lawrence’s Cider in the village of Corton Denham, on the Somerset-Dorset border, said: “True cider has got to be made from 100% apple juice, but a lot is made from apple concentrate and water with quite a high alcohol content. It gives cider a bad name.”

Lawrence harvests at least six varieties of cider apples from local orchards, including tremlett’s bitter and yarlington mill. They are pressed and the pure juice is fermented and left to mature for six months. Lawrence makes up to 7,000 litres a year, the threshold at which alcohol duty is paid. Under the current rules, cider is only required to contain a minimum of 35% juice content. The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), which also promotes real cider and perry, also known as pear cider, is calling on HM Treasury to raise the minimum fruit content to 50% as part of its review of alcohol duties.

Gillian Hough, Camra’s real ale, cider and perry campaigns director, said: “Consumers need confidence that when they are buying cider or perry it is a quality product that contains more juice than water.”

Jim Callender, founder of the Real Cider