British cider is a rare national success story. We should treat it as such

No nation on earth has the history, scale and skill that we possess in the orchard and cider house. We Brits make and drink 40 per cent of all the cider in the world, with only one per cent of the population.

But this isle of Avalon is being sidelined by both national and international forces. Mighty in age and provenance, but sadly neglected because of a growing globalised international drinks market. Some global players have a handle on cider - but most are utterly bemused by the range, the depth and the complexity of our truly national drink.

UK cider is the Scrappy-Doo of world drinks. But as international brewers lay their carpets across the UK drinks market, many fine cider makers lose the chance to sell their wares. Whether in the pub or in retail, we desperately need to see a refresh of representation for the craftsmen and women from the orchards of this land of apples.

Successive UK governments haven’t helped either. Instead of recognising the category's unique position to boost brand GB and create British jobs, they failed to spot the unicorn grazing in the paddock.

With 98 per cent of cider consumed in the UK made locally, compared to other import-heavy categories, we are a jobs machine. Yet relative duty has been hiked up for cider compared to beer. Since cider over-indexes in pubs, public policy towards the on-trade in the last 20 years has seemed like a manifesto to shut the local.

Cider is refreshing, full of flavour, requires the least land for production, and, as orchards are a permaculture system, they are an enormous, biodiverse resource and the most ecologically supportive form of agriculture.

We Brits may be a little forgetful, but we are loyal. Despite the headwinds that are slowing what could be stunning progress, the apple is back. Real ciders from the orchards of Avalon are in growth, the market is choosing authentic, classic British cider again - and the signs are positive.

This industry was here long before the first European monk boiled his first beery barley grains, we’re rooted in the finest orchard soils on the planet, and we stand with our cider jugs brimming, ready to share another harvest’s toil.

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Barny Butterfield is the founder and owner of Sandford Orchards, an independent cider producer based in Crediton, Devon in the UK's oldest working cider mill. He is a true cider evangelist and the Deputy Chair of the National Association of Cider Makers (NACM).

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