Concentrate imports for cider annoy fruit growers

Apple and pear farmers say they aren't enjoying the full benefit of the booming cider industry.

Demand for the craft beverage has doubled over the past five years, according to business analysts IBIS World.

Boutique cider brewer Michael Stafford says farmers should be experiencing greater demand for apple and pear juice because of the cider revolution.

But he says that isn't happening because the big brewers are using cheap imported concentrate to make cider instead.

Farmers want a greater cut of cider's success

"It distorts the market price here, in that it sets a very low floor price," Mr Stafford said.

"It would certainly be to the Australian growers' benefit. The more local juice we could use and sell at a higher price, or getting a higher price back to the primary producer, would be better.

Major brewer Lion says it uses both fresh juice and concentrate extracted from fresh juice in its ciders that are sourced locally and from New Zealand.  

"The concentrates we use are simply the apple juice with the water removed from it, and enable us to deliver a consistent, quality flavour across our larger scale brands, such as the Tooheys 5 Seeds range, year-round," a spokeswoman said. 

"Our craft ciders, which are made on a smaller scale, such as James Squire Orchard Crush, use fresh crushed juice from Australian apples year-round, as opposed to concentrate."

Source: ABC Rural News, 19 July 2013