Bay 'leading cider destination'

NEW CRUSH: Zeffer Cider's sales and marketing manager Josh Townsend is heading to the Bay. PHOTO SUPPLIED

Zeffer Cider is heading to the Bay, where sales and marketing manager Josh Townsend says the company can work closely with suppliers. He chats to Mark Story.

What's the primary reason for Zeffer moving to Hawke's Bay?
To be closer to our Hawke's Bay apples! We sourced almost 100% of our fruit from Hawke's Bay so it makes sense to be beside our supply. It saves us a huge amount on freight, cuts down on the miles our cider travels and means we can work closely with all of our apple suppliers. We also do all of our domestic distribution out of Hawke's Bay and will look to export from the Port of Napier. We're very excited to move over and help establish Hawke's Bay as New Zealand's leading cider destination alongside the great existing Hawke's Bay cider makers Paynter's and Three Wise Birds.

How do Kiwi cider palates differ from your main export destinations of China and Thailand?
We have done market testing in China and Thailand and the response to Zeffer has been great. It is hard to generalise a full countries palate, but the feedback in China has been really positive, particularly for our red apple cider. With Thailand being such a warm climate Zeffer is gaining a great response due to it being lighter than beer and lower in alcohol than wine. We also get comments on the refreshing nature of Zeffer due to it having very low residual sugar and because of the clean, crisp style we produce.

What's your signature cider and why?
This is a subject of debate amongst the team. Our cider makers will say one of our reserve range ciders, but for me it's our first ever cider we made (and still our biggest seller), which is our crisp apple cider. It's fresh, dry, fruit forward, very well made and is our take on new-age, New Zealand cider.

Any idea yet on where you'll be located in this region?
We are currently looking at a few options in Hawke's Bay so can't confirm this yet. But we have some great options to choose from and can't wait to make the move over soon.

Do cider apples differ from eating apple varieties?
Yes, we use both for our range of ciders but the majority of our cider is made from culinary apples. Cider apples are generally only good for cider (not for eating) and are hard to find in New Zealand! They have higher tannins and usually a higher sugar content which makes a more complex, rich, old world style of cider. Our core focus is on creating a new style of New Zealand cider and we use mainly culinary apples to produce this. We still love making traditional cider and release the best of our cider apple ferments in our reserve range each year.