BC Business
BC Tree Fruits, a cooperative of more than 500 grower families, is launching its first cider, Broken Ladder, this spring. “Historically in B.C., a lot of the ciders are made with grain spirits, flavours, some apples,” says Michael Daley, consulting winery manager (making cider is so similar to winemaking that the company operates under a winery licence) for the BC Tree Fruits Cider Co. “What we’re going after is the premium craft cider market.”
BC Tree Fruits cider will be made using 100 per cent B.C. apples but on a larger scale and with wider distribution than B.C.’s existing craft cideries. Broken Ladder will be sold through LDB stores and independent liquor retail stores in four-packs of 473 mL cans for $11.49. Later this year it will also be available in a 750 mL single serve with a champagne bottle finish.
Made from a blend of five apple varieties, Broken Ladder will be the driest cider currently on the market, says Daley, adding that he’s hoping to steal market share from Strongbow cider. He would also like to create standards in the cider industry similar to those in the wine industry.