How to sell more cider + report on fake Yelp reviews

Kyle Sherrer is the owner of Backpack Brands of Newburgh, NY, which puts out three craft brands:

• Graft Cider, a craft cider that innovates on flavors. Think cutting edge craft beer, but for cider.
• Hudson North Cider, a hazy dry cider brand that's lower in sugar than their competitors (like Austin Eastciders, for example).
• Ritual Hard Kombucha, a west-coast style hard kombucha made in NY.

Kyle's been in the cider game for a long time, so it was super interesting talking to him about how bars and restaurants can sell more cider. In Kyle's mind, cider's un-budge-able seat at the beverage table comes from its inextricable link to comfort and nostalgia. That link means bars and restaurants are in a great spot to sell more of it.

Here's why (and how):

• Cider may have taken a bit of a hit with seltzer's insane rise the last few years, but it's not going anywhere and is in fact well positioned to continue its growth.
• That's because cider is uniquely positioned to be a vessel of comfort and nostalgia. From Johnny Appleseed to "American as apple pie," nothing says Americana like an apple.
• Successful cider makers lean into this comfort and nostalgia when they're crafting their seasonals because they know people love them. (Proof: Kyle made a Bomb Pop Cider last summer that sold like hotcakes.)
• So as a bar or restaurant, your job is getting your cider selection over the finish line and into customers' line of sight: your customers want comfort and nostalgia. Cider makers have intentionally crafted ciders that appeal to comfort and nostalgia. You just need to merchandise them by giving them prominence on your menus, in your bar, and in your employees' interactions with guests. If you do this, you will definitely sell more cider.

Check out the full video interview to learn more about where Kyle sees hard seltzer going, whether he thinks hard kombucha is headed for the same meteoric rise, and to hear more about how he and his team intentionally build comfort and nostalgia into all products across his three brands.

Isn't it nice when theories are proven out with data?

Excepting a couple big-time macros (which are just always going to be present on lists like this), Downeast's Winter Blend and Cider Donut serve as proof of Kyle's comfort and nostalgia theory: people want them and are searching for them.

Here are the 5 most searched-for ciders over the last 30 days:

	Ace Pineapple Fruit Cider · 5.0% · Sebastopol, CA
	Downeast Winter Blend Cider · 6.5% · East Boston, MA
	Stella Artois Cidre Cider · 4.5% · St. Louis, MO
	Downeast Original Blend Cider · 5.1% · East Boston, MA
	Downeast Cider Donut Cider · 5.2% · East Boston, MA

The takehome: Lean into your local seasonal ciders, but know that there are still a lot of people looking for the most readily available ciders too. If you're not currently carrying either category, ask your distributors about doing so.

Note: Data comes from pageviews to BeerMenus.com.

• Yesterday The New York Times took a look at fake reviews on sites like Yelp, Google, and Tripadvisor. In 2022 Yelp removed 700,000 posts that violated its policies. In 2020, Tripadvisor removed 1 million. Both sites say that paid-for fake positive reviews are more common than fake negative reviews, but we of course know that the fake negative reviews are extremely costly, as the article gets into at the very end. If you've had experience dealing with fake negative reviews (aka scams), please reply to this email—I'd love to interview you about the experience.
• Dry January news keeps coming. The Washington Post wrote up a study that found that NA beer is better for you after a workout than regular beer. It may even be better for you than a sports drink.
• Minneapolis's Modist Brewing teamed up with Hormel to release a limited edition chili cheese beer. The release was timed for the Super Bowl. But you no doubt assumed that.
• You'll never find me cracking open a Natural Light unless the drink situation is very dire, but their new 1970's style can design looks great.