Cider business aims to taste export success

Armagh Cider, the Northern Irish processor, has secured investment to develop business in new markets including Europe and the US. The award winning cider producer is investing in new equipment such as a 'tunnel pasteuriser' to increase efficiency and assist a major international marketing drive.

The company, based at the heart of Northern Ireland's orchard county and home to Armagh Bramley apples, which now have EU PGI status, has secured support from the Growth Loan Fund, which provides mezzanine finance to develop business particularly exports.

Armagh Cider is a family business established by husband and wife team Philip and Helen Troughton in January 2006. The family has been growing apples in Armagh since 1898.

The company produces top quality, hand-crafted cider for retail and foodservice under established brands such as 'Carson's Crisp' and 'Madden's Mellow' for over 340 outlets in Northern Ireland. It now aims to explore and develop opportunities identified in key international markets.

Helen Troughton says: "County Armagh is known to be the home of the apple business in Northern Ireland. Until we introduced 'Carson's Crisp'', Armagh was the only apple-growing area in the UK without its own cider producers.

"To allow us to cope with the growing demand for our product range, we required investment from the Growth Loan Fund which would enable us to purchase new machinery and therefore increase our product yield and expand the business into new export markets."

The company now has an extensive portfolio of ciders, apple juice and cider vinegars.

"This means that we can confidently offer consumers authentic and natural apple products underpinned with genuine provenance and heritage that are being demanded increasingly in Northern Ireland and in export markets," she adds.