Source: Heineken UK

Heineken already supplies the information for its beer brands

Heineken has revealed plans to add calorie and nutrition labelling to its entire portfolio of ciders.

Full information will roll out on packs of Bulmers, Old Mout and Strongbow before the end of the year, the brewing giant said today, calling it a move towards “a more sustainable cider category”. 

“We hope this move will inspire the rest of the cider industry to follow,” said Heineken UK marketing director Cindy Tervoort. “We have already made the changes on our beers and now our entire range of ciders will give consumers calorie and ingredient information to help them make informed choices.” 

The move makes Heineken the latest in a series of big booze companies to commit to full nutritional and calorie labelling, such as spirits giant Pernod Ricard, which pledged in April to do so across all its core brands by the end of 2019

It comes almost a year since Heineken changed the recipe for Bulmers to remove artificial sweeteners, colours and flavourings in favour of “natural sweetness only from apples”.

Heineken added it had invested £58m into its cider operations in Herefordshire over the last two years to boost sustainability”. 

At the time of the recipe switch, Bulmers’ sales had dropped steeply in the face of increased competition from posher rivals and delistings in the mults – over the 52 weeks to 21 April 2018, the brand’s value had dropped by more than a third (36.1%) to £34.6m [Nielsen 52 w/e 21 April 2018].

Yet since the shift – and having mounted a major TV ad push – that decline has slowed significantly (although Bulmers is still yet to return to growth) [Nielsen 52 w/e 20 April 2019].

Heineken additionally kicked off a new campaign for Kronenbourg 1664 this week, bringing back Eric Cantona for the push, in which the football star is sent into space “to prove it’s not just Le Taste Supreme of the world, but of the entire universe”.