When Highpoint Cider’s Andrew Perez noticed one of his brands needed a refresh, he didn’t rely just on instinct; the company’s co-founder relied on numbers. By examining geographic and sales data, Perez and his team identified a gap in their lineup.
That led to the development of Clusterhuck, a 5% ABV huckleberry cider that launched in May. The move wasn’t just a gamble; it was a data-backed bet that paid off. In just a few months, Clusterhuck climbed to nearly 30% of Highpoint’s total production volume.
“You won’t hit anything if you aren’t swinging,” Perez said. “And swinging takes time, energy, and resources.”
That balance of creative experimentation and disciplined analysis defines how cideries are learning to survive, and even grow, in a tightening market.
Every pour, purchase and promotional event your brand does can carry information that can shape the next business decision. Whether that means tweaking recipes, changing packaging formats, or rethinking price points, data offers a way to navigate rising costs and shifting consumer expectations with precision instead of guesswork.
At Portland Cider Co., co-founder Jeff Parrish said sales data is “the most important driver” of every major business choice. It is also what drives retailers and distributors.
“Sales data determines when a product might be reaching the end of its life,” Parrish said. “It tells us when a small batch might need to go bigger, and it’s the measure of our distributors’ performance.”
That approach has paid off before: when data revealed customers were abandoning 22-ounce bottles for 19.2-ounce cans in 2016, Portland Cider made the full switch, becoming one of the first cideries in the country to bet big on that package size. The decision solidified the brand’s shelf presence and kept it ahead of the curve.
“It was the correct decision and we’ve had a strong presence in that package ever since,” he told Brewer Mag and Cider Business.
For Toney Chay, general manager at 7Bev Corp (which includes Queen Orchard and Ale & Cider House), data not only informs what’s selling but also when to produce it.
“Sales data helps us understand what products resonate most with customers, especially during events or seasonal promotions,” he said. “It also allows us to project how much cider to produce based on seasonality and demand patterns — like adjusting for high-traffic periods such as fall harvest events.”
By mapping purchasing patterns to local events, Chay said the company can fine-tune production schedules and avoid both stockouts and waste.
The power of data isn’t limited to what’s already on the shelf. Tracking performance before and after marketing pushes offers real-time feedback about which efforts are actually moving product. Parrish said even without enterprise-level analytics tools, smaller cideries can still draw valuable insights.
“We line up our sales data against our product launch campaigns and look for lifts that align with timing,” he said. “We get anecdotal data by talking with our staff, our sales team and our retail partners about whether customers are making connections between marketing and purchase decisions. It’s not high-tech, but every data point matters.”
Chay’s team follows a similar pattern, analyzing sales spikes during and after social media or event-based promotions. They pair those findings with feedback from customers to see whether enthusiasm translates to repeat purchases. Perez agreed that measuring marketing impact gets more complicated when data is filtered through multiple distribution layers, but it’s still worth the effort.
“Determining velocities on an account-by-account basis can be delayed depending on how data flows,” he said. “But even delayed data can reveal patterns that guide better decisions.”
Pricing remains one of the trickiest areas for data-based decision making. In a year Perez called “tough” for nearly every cidery — with juice costs climbing, tariffs increasing and suppliers under strain — even good data can’t offset broader inflationary pressures.
READ MORE: Ways to Build Visibility and Velocity Through Off-Premise Cider Sales
Still, he emphasized that before setting a price, cideries need to understand what the market actually wants. For Parrish, the equation is about balancing cost realities with consumer psychology.
“The cost of apple juice sometimes dictates when we need to move on pricing,” he said. “But other times we have to hold pricing even in the face of rising costs. The customer will only pay so much for a six-pack of cider.”
Because cider competes for shelf space and consumer dollars alongside craft beer, its pricing must remain close enough to that category to stay competitive — even if production costs and taxation are higher.
Chay takes a slightly different view, using data to reinforce premium positioning.
“We’ve looked at average per-unit sales, margins, and customer feedback to determine ideal pricing,” he said. “Ciders with unique ingredients or storytelling often command a higher price, and data helps reinforce that value.”
All agree on one principle: data doesn’t replace instinct, but it keeps instinct honest. As the cider market faces tighter margins and shifting consumer behavior, data-driven thinking offers not just a survival tool but a framework for smarter, more strategic growth. For small producers, that might mean starting simple. Look to track what sells fastest in different regions, comparing sales lifts after promotions, or running small-batch trials before scaling production.
As Perez put it, “Data-driven decision making should be present at every level of the organization.”
Don’t just collect data to collect numbers, use them, he said, to turn them into momentum.
Be the first to comment