The Education of Cider

The Education of Cider

The Education of Cider. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture.

The wine industry in the northwest has taken off as has the craft beer industry. Now it is hard ciders turn. The problem is that a lot of people still think of cider as just apple juice. Pete Mulligan with Bull Run Cider in Forest Grove, Oregon is the new President of the Northwest Cider Association.

MULLIGAN: Recently the Northwest Cider Association received a grant from Oregon Department of Agriculture and it's really to promote the standards and promote what cider is. We're going to have some road shows throughout Oregon/Washington specifically talking about our standards and what is cider and really more of an outreach to the orchardists and to the consumers and educating them.

Mulligan says that cider is really its own category unlike beer and wine.

MULLIGAN: We're developing new customers and some crossover customers from those categories as well but I think we just have to get out there and really promote it more. Right now when you talk about cider in the general sense everyone refers to apple juice and so we have to say hard cider.

So what does Mulligan see for his presidency?

MULLIGAN: For the NWCA as I see it for the next two years is really about outreach. I think we have to reach outward towards t the different regions that we represent for new consumers, new membership. We have a lot of different levels of membership. I think we have to reach out more and educate people through these road shows and through different tastings and festivals.

That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.

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