More news from Latis Imports…the company plans to import the top-selling ciders out of France, historically, a mature cider markets. More below…

—

Latis is very proud to announce that it will be the importer for Eclor of France.

Eclor is a co-operative owned by 10,000 French Farmers. Loïc Raison from Brittany and Ecusson from Normandy are the #1 and #2 cidre brands families in France. Like German purity laws in brewing, the French have a strict code that governs how cidre is produced. Accordingly, all Eclor cidres are 100% natural and made from only French apples with no water, coloring, additives or sugars and are Gluten free.

We will launch in a 750ml format with one flavor from each range. Ecusson Cidre Rose gains its color and flavor from Red Délice variety of apple. It is slightly sweeter and a refreshing 3% ABV. Loïc Raison Brut is dry with a sophisticated taste @ 4.5 % ABV.

—

Bonus…some additional insight on the France cider market and these two brands from Euromonitor International:

—

TRENDS

In France, the category’s performance is related to the disappearance of a generation used to drinking cider daily and an insufficient number of new consumers to compensate for them. But the main story of 2011 was manufacturers fighting to invigorate the category by investing in communication and marketing.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Cider is a category with few players. The leader, CSR SA (Cidreries Sopagly Réunies), part of the Agrial group, controls 46% of total volume sales of cider in France. This player owns several well-established brands, such as Loïc Raison or Ecusson. The key to this success is the company’s approach to increasing marketing spend for its strategic brands and to intensify the communication around its flagship brands in order to promote cider as an aperitif and introduce Écusson rosé to the French public.

PROSPECTS

Over the forecast period, cider manufacturers are expected to augment their efforts in order to fight the decline of cider consumption in France. To overcome this challenge, producers will continue to try to convert cider to more regular and less regional consumption. According to trade sources, in 2011, cider manufacturers voted for an increase of 60% for their inter-branch contributions collected by UNICID (Union Nationale Interprofessionnelle Cidricole), a trade organisation for cider industry and professionals. The objective is to increase and develop their communication by advertising cider through the radio, internet and TV more, from 2012.