MillerCoors acquires Crispin Cider Co

MillerCoors LLC, the US joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Co, yesterday acquired Crispin Cider Co, for an undisclosed sum, as the fermented apple drink has caught the fancy of consumers in the US.

Founded in 2008, Minneapolis-based Crispin Cider is the third-largest producer of cider in the US.

Crispin Cider produces European-style natural hard apple ciders using fermented unpasteurised fresh-pressed apple juice in Original, Light and Brut, as well as additional unfiltered Artisanal Reserves like Honey Crisp, Lansdowne, The Saint and Cho-tokkyu. It also imports a classic English Dry Cider, Crispin Browns Lane.

The acquisition includes Crispin's affiliate, Fox Barrel Cider Company, which makes pear ciders.

Crispin Cider, which competes with Vermont Hard Cider Company and Hornsby's, grew approximately 200 per cent in 2011, while the overall cider market grew at 26 per cent during the same period.

The US cider market is only 0.5 per cent the size of the beer market, but cider consumption rose 72 per cent to about 440,000 hectolitres last year from 2005, according to SABMiller.