By Andy Young, TheShout
The Australian Government is investing $500,000 in building Australia’s craft cider industry in export markets, and the country’s craft cider producers are being invited to contribute to the plan.
The investment will be made over years and aims to build brand proposition and marketing strategy in order to boost exports as part of the Government’s $50m Export and Regional Wine Support Package.
In a statement about the program, Cider Australia said: “Cider Australia has engaged internationally experienced brand strategist, Guy Taylor, to develop a brand proposition to market ‘Australian craft cider’ internationally that can be leveraged by Australian cider producers.
“Guy worked with Blundstones to take them to the forefront of the global workwear movement, co-created the ‘Who is James Boag?’ campaign and in the travel sector, lead Tourism Tasmania’s brand evolution in 2013.
“The aim of the funding is to take craft cider businesses to the next level by building knowledge of potential export markets and developing improved understanding for accessing these markets.
“Insights from the Australian craft cider industry are crucial in shaping this work. Guy will be reaching out to craft cider producers in the coming months to get their ideas and opinions on the craft cider industry.
“A further step will be to develop a Go-To-Market strategy and a ‘toolkit’ to assist producers to understand prospective export markets and navigate the rules and complexities associated with exporting to those markets.
“The Australian wine sector has developed an international reputation and exports 61 per cent of its production. The Australian craft cider industry also has the potential to achieve growth through building export markets.”
Cider Australia also said it will provide regular updates on the program and will publish details regarding opportunities to contribute on its website and that the overall program will be delivered by Wine Australia, which is administering the overall $50m support package.