Strongbow Zest Cider

Strongbow Zest would satisfy demand for innovation in cider, according to Heineken UK

Strongbow has added a new 4% abv cider made with lime, lemon and orange.

Called Stongbow Zest, the NPD – first revealed by The Grocer last summer – joins Dark Fruit, Cloudy Apple and Tropical in the brand’s flavoured cider lineup.

Packs of 4x440ml cans (rsp: £5.50) and single 500ml bottles (rsp: £1.50) have rolled into Tesco, while 10x330ml can packs (rsp: £10) are available in Asda.

A wider grocery, convenience and wholesale rollout will follow from April.

Offering “thirst-quenching apple cider carefully blended with lime, lemon and orange flavours”, Zest had been developed to “offer more choice and recruit new consumers into the cider category,” according to Strongbow brand owner Heineken UK.

Its launch would be backed by a £10m marketing campaign from May, the brewer added.

Rachel Holms, cider brand director at Heineken UK, said the success of last year’s Strongbow Tropical launch showed there was “an appetite for new flavours in the category”.

“Our ambition is to continue to recruit new consumers into the cider category, particularly those who are on the hunt for fresh innovation”, she added.

Sales of Strongbow’s two biggest cider flavours – Original and Dark Fruit – are in both value and volume decline. The two variants are worth a combined £226.1m, down 6.5% on a year ago [NIQ 52 w/e 20 January 2024].