Stella Artois Cidre sales exceeds expectations

Stella Artois' move into the cider market has proved to be a huge success with off-trade sales of their Stella Cidre reaching an estimated £17m since its launch in April.

Stella Cidre is the first cider to be produced by a major lager brand and its unprecedented success has led to the brewer struggling to source enough Jonagold apples to meet demand. The 4.5% abv premium cider has been purchased by over 1.3 million households with a total of 13 million bottles being sold in 10 weeks. The cider was originally launched in Tesco and Asda supermarkets but has now rolled out into other wholesalers.

Staurt MacFarlane, AB InBev UK chairman and president, stated that there had been an "unprecedented demand surpassing all our expectations," which has led to UK producers increasing apple production as the cider market expands.