Asia warms up to the taste of cider

BRUNTYS is pitting Britain’s favorite tipple, the cider, against Asia’s favored, the beer. Its Master Cider Maker, Brian Brunt said the company is doing so not just with one, but three fruity flavors, and with reasonable success. Already Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong and Laos are giving it a shot, he said during an interview with FPMJ corrspondent, Jean Alingod.  

How many years have you been making cider and what started you in the line?

I have been making cider since I was a teenager.  I gradually increased production over the years and in 1984 I went commercial. I started making Ciders from growing up in Somerset picking farmer’s brains and helping them collect the apples, pressing them immediately into fresh juice that was then ready for the fermentation vats. During the pressing of the apples we had a tradition using the old two handled mugs, drinking last year’s cider as the press went up passing the mug along in the direction of the sun.

How long did it take for you to roll out your first drinks for Bruntys and what preparation did you have to make to produce the ciders?

It took us only three months from the start of production to roll out our first drinks. We had to create some new recipes to suit the Asian palate based on results of an independent research, which we conducted over two years. This research was mostly about finding our place in the market and doing tastings over different cider brands to ensure that we created the right taste to hit the market.

Please tell us about the selections on offer.

We currently have three flavors being Apple; Pear and Strawberry. The reason for releasing three flavors at once is because not everyone’s taste is the same and we wanted to ensure that everyone would at least like one of our flavors. The Apple and Pear are the more traditional flavors of cider, with the Apple being the driest taste and the Pear being a medium sweet. To ensure we hit the Asian market completely we introduced a strawberry flavor that is much sweeter to the Apple and Pear and is the favorite of both men and women in the region.

Brian Brunt (left) and British Ambassador to Cambodia, Bill Longhurst drink to Bruntys entry into Asia

When you rolled out the drinks, did you do so with the intention of having the taste appeal to the Cambodian market?

We created our flavors for the Asian market. Cambodia is where we produce Bruntys and we certainly enjoy good sales in Cambodia. However, we do have a big focus on exports throughout Asia. Thankfully the palate across the board in Asia is very similar and again having three flavors ensures we have a product to suit all markets.

At what pace do you assess Asia’s preference for cider growing?

Cider is today the fastest growing alcoholic beverage in the world, that being said, it is relatively new to Asia and educating the consumers in the region as to what cider is has had its challenges. From research that we have conducted, Asians certainly prefer the fruity taste of cider and it is a really refreshing drink in hot weather whilst being great over ice. This gives us an advantage over many other alcoholic beverages. We also do not have a particular market and can be a drink of choice throughout any occasion and for any gender.

Bruntys chose pear, apple and strawberry flavors for the Asian consumer. The company expects to add mango to the lineup

Your cider production currently uses Kingdom Breweries facilities. How does that work for you?

We have a really good relationship with Kingdom Brewery, they have allowed us to start production in Asia without the major expense of setting up our own brewery, and they have been really accommodating on fitting us in on the production line. As we still fly in from the UK for each production, things can change at the last minute and Kingdom Brewery have been very flexible with this.

What is your production capacity and at what percentage is production currently done?

We currently occupy 50 percent of the production capacity at Kingdom Brewery, and there is still room for expansion. We have, however, an insurance policy that we can always back up production from our own Brewery back in the UK and this can be exported out in liquid containers if required.

Are there plans for product and market expansion?

Our current three flavors have been very popular but we do intend to add to the product range with an additional flavor being Mango. We are also considering going into kegs and cans due to market demand. As for market growth, we currently export to five countries around Asia particularly Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong and Laos and intend to significantly up this over the next year.

Where do you source bottles, crowns and labels?

Unfortunately Cambodia does not have a very strong manufacturing sector in these materials and therefore we are faced with importing nearly everything. We source as much as we can in South East Asia, however, we still need to look further for some items such as our bottles, which we have to source from China. This is because of the type and color of bottle we use is not produced in this region. We do purchase our cartons from a local supplier in Cambodia.

Companies are looking at ways to cut down on packaging costs including using PET bottles or light weighting cans. Do you see this as a possibility for cider production?

In the UK and Ireland we have been using PET bottles for 20 years in the off-trade, and it has never affected the flavor of our ciders. As for Bruntys in Asia, the demand is for glass bottles mostly for the premium on-trade market. I am not sure the PET bottles will be suitable in this area for a while but we are looking at future production in kegs and cans because of a high demand in these products throughout Asia.