The new Heineken Cider Report 2025: Cider Public House Rules shows the cider category in good health, with premiumisation driving value in a category now worth £2bn to the UK on-trade, a rise of 5%. The news comes as HEINEKEN UK introduces the UK’s first dealcoholised cider, Inch’s 0.0 to the on-trade this month.
The new report shows that, across 2024 alone, 342 million pints of Cider and around 114 million bottles have been sold across the on-trade, making it the second most popular alcoholic drink by volume in the sector.
Draught cider, in particular has performed well, up 6% in comparison to total on-trade drinks sales, which were flat over the same time period with cider on tap now making up 77% of on-trade cider sales by volume – equivalent to £1.4bn in value, which is, on average worth £21,500 a year to an operator.
Heineken say that this is being driven by premiumisation in the category for both Apple and Flavoured variants.
However, packaged cider still remains a key part of the cider offer with 28% of cider sales through the fridge – compared to just 8% of beer sales. Premium Flavoured Ciders are the dominant force here, growing to 72% of cider sales, while No and Low is also a sector in growth, up 11% in the last year which is good news for the launch of Inch 0.0.
Will Rice, On-trade Sales Director from HEINEKEN UK says, “The Cider Public House Rules report reaffirms that there should be huge optimism for the category. Cider remains a staple for the vast majority of pubs and bars in the UK and consumers view it as a key part of the quintessential pub and bar experience. In fact, 79% of consumers say it is an important consideration when choosing where to visit.
“What we have clearly seen in this report, is that for the operators that invest in their cider range, either by increasing the number of packaged products or adding an additional line to the bar, are being really rewarded with increased money in the till. For what is a financially tough time for the sector, ensuring your Cider offer is fit for purpose is a really easy win.”
The Heineken Cider Report 2025 is available here