Recent sales figures have shown that Friels First Press Vintage Cider, from Aston Manor Cider, is enjoying remarkable growth. Paired with a series of prestigious award wins, the brand is quickly taking the lead in the premium cider market.

Fighting off challenges from the likes of Thatchers’ Caple Road and Rosies’ Pig Flat Tyre, Friels has now reached the number one spot for 330ml canned craft cider in the off-trade. It was also in the top ten for overall premium brands in the convenience sector, and in the top 20 for all premium brands the off-trade as a whole.

It now represents the biggest contributor to growth of all new premium apple products. This has led Friels to become the fourth largest contributor to the growth of premium apple cider. An impressive achievement for a brand which is barely a year old.

Over the past eight months, Friels has been gaining international plaudits across its can, bottle and new keg formats.

Friels First Press Vintage cans won Gold at the British Bottler Institute Awards, with the 500ml bottles and mini-keg formats grabbing silver. The 330ml cans also scooped bronze medals for both product quality and packaging and design at the prestigious International Cider Challenge.

Recognition for the eye-catching and innovative design of Friels continued with Silver medals for both the can and mini-keg formats at the highly-competitive Harpers Design Awards.

Most recently, the popular Friels Hop Infused joined Friels First Press Vintage in gaining a Gold medal from the World Cider Awards.

This success demonstrates that consumers are clearly seeking out drinks with quality and provenance. As people continue to drink less in terms of volume, but more in terms of quality, it is expected that brands such as Friels will continue to drive growth in the cider market.

Glen Friel, sales and marketing director at Aston Manor Cider said: “I’m naturally delighted at the success of Friels vintage and in particular the leading role the brand is taking in establishing the 330ml can craft cider category for consumers and customers alike.

“Produced from the first press of Red Falstaff, Katy and Windsor eating apples from our Herefordshire and Worcestershire orchards, Friels delivers the depth of flavour that fans of craft cider demand, whilst the vintage-inspired design attracts consumers on the lookout for something striking.

“We’ve got high hopes for Friels, which is why we’ve invested a lot of time and energy into offering the cider in a variety of formats, including the new mini-kegs which have been immensely popular already, with the first run selling out in Morrison’s within a month.”