The pandemic had a hugely negative impact on the Irish cider sector in 2021, although there were signs of recovery in the second half of last year, according to research from Drinks Ireland.

The Irish Cider Market Report shows both sales and exports fell drastically last year, with producers now calling for a reduction in excise duty to support the flagging sector as well as urgent excise relief for craft producers.

Domestic sales of cider, which like beer is very popular in the on-trade, which was beset by enforced closures for much of the past two years, declined 4.2% year-on-year, and sales have fallen 15.1% since 2019.

Cider's share of the alcohol market in 2019 was 7.4% but had fallen to 5.8% two years later, a reduction of 1.6 points as people shifted towards wine and spirits when drinking at home.

Exports, meanwhile, fell by over half (-56.2%) last year as the market shrunk by €25m. The most popular destinations for Irish cider were the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

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Conversely, the second half of 2021 saw a 20% increase in cider sales as hospitality restrictions eased later in the year and patrons returned to pubs, restaurants and hotels in large numbers.

Seamus O’Hara, chair of Drinks Ireland | Cider and CEO of Carlow Brewing Company, said: “With native orchards and great quality diverse homegrown products, there is a huge opportunity for the Irish cider sector to mirror the success of other parts of the drinks industry, like Irish craft beer and Irish gin.

"After two extremely challenging years, there are some early signs of recovery. The full reopening of Ireland’s hospitality sector in January 2022 will hopefully provide a much-needed boost, but support is certainly required at this critical stage.”

Drinks Ireland said that a full recovery and subsequent growth would be very challenging in the absence of government support and called for an excise cut on alcohol to bring Ireland in line with the European average.

Jonathan McDade, director of Drinks Ireland | Cider, said: “We very much welcomed last year’s announcement that an excise relief programme would be rolled out for small cider producers in Ireland, and look forward to seeing details in this year’s Finance Bill, as this measure is urgent for the sector. In order to facilitate recovery, a wider alcohol excise cut is also vital.

"Currently, about 28% of a pint of cider is taken on tax. This is totally out of line with most of our European neighbours. A cut would support the sector, facilitating growth, the creation of jobs and in turn the wider economy.”

Beer production fell 46% last year, while sales dropped 1.3% and per capital consumption declined 2.3%. Revenue data shows that alcohol consumption fell by 4.7% between 2020 and 2021, and declined by 9.6% between 2019 and 2021.

(Pic: Getty Images)