18 Juicy Irish craft cider businesses to watch.
Galway Cider Co is now in its fifth year and proving to be a big hit with locals and tourists alike. We took a trip to Galway City recently to soak up the West of Ireland summer atmosphere and it did not disappoint!
The City of Festivals did not disappoint with its quaint streets, colourful buildings and friendly locals. Likewise our bottles of ice cold Galway Cider left no bad impressions. Galway Cider was a brainchild of Galway man, Francis Kelly.
An avid craft cider fan, Francis noticed how there was no local craft cider to the western capital. With a background in food production, sales and entrepreneurship, he set out to create a cider the Tribesmen (and women) could be proud of.
Using 100% Irish apples sourced from orchards known for their superior produce, Galway Cider ensures that every batch is fresh and authentic. The apples are carefully processed to retain their natural flavours, resulting in a medium sweetness cider with a distinctive depth of character. They use a blend of 5 apples, with a balanced mix of eating, cider and cooking apples to create this easy drinking craft cider.
But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for the Galway city company. Launching in mid-2019 seemed like a fantastic business decision at the time, with Galway to be the European Capital of Culture in 2020. But not all went to plan in 2020, as the opening ceremony of the Galway Capital of Culture 2020 was cancelled due to a terrible storm, this was quickly followed by the rise of Covid in March 2020, which lasted for the majority of the year – closing pubs and impacting sales massively. The company quickly pivoted to the off-trade market, widening its delivery circle and introducing more people to the brand.
Fast forward four years, Galway Cider now has more than doubled its turnover and continues to delight the public with their fresh, well balanced Craft Cider. They recently freshened up the branding of their bottles, covered in Galway iconology – a very attractive design. The next time you head West, be sure to ask for a Galway Cider in your venue of choice and test yourself to see if you can name all of the icons on the bottle.
