Cider Production Software
Built For
Cider production is on the rise with the U.S. boasting over 900 local and regional producers. While cider is already wildly popular around the world, the crisp apple adult beverage is just starting to take off with American drinkers. Similar to the craft makeover beer and liquor has experienced, cider is in the midst of its own craft glow-up.
Cider is produced by fermenting crushed apples, sometimes pears, over a period of time. Other fruit bases are becoming more popular as more craft cideries begin experimenting. U.S. cideries operate similarly to craft breweries and distilleries, beholden to similar rules and regulations, and held to certain quality standards determined by national associations.
What is Cider?
- An alcoholic beverage usually made from fermented apples as well as botanicals and spices. Fermented pears are the second most common base for cider.
- Cider is not brewed. The cider-making process is similar to the wine-making process.
- Cider is low in ABV, ranging between 4%-8%
- Cider is gluten-free with a more gender balanced audience as opposed to beer, wine, and spirits
- Cider is a year-round beverage with seasonal sales spikes in Summer and Autumn
Cider Market Overview:
- Globally, the established cider market is valued at $16 billion as opposed to the emerging U.S. cider market which is responsible for just 1% of the U.S. adult beverage market value
- The states with highest concentration of active cideries: New York, California, Michigan, Washington, Oregon
- In the U.S., local and regional cideries make up 25% of the revenue per year
- Over the last few years, large cider players in the U.S. market (like Angry Orchard) dropped in value; however, smaller brands within the market experienced up to 30% growth
- On-premise cider sales have been declining in recent years, but off-premise cider sales have surged, growing by as much as 39% in the United States
- 2/3rds of cider connoisseurs drink out weekly, propelling U.S. cider growth
- Over 13 million cases of cider are retailed annually, approximately reaching $516 million is sales
Market analysts, industry associations, cider producers and their distributors all agree the growth potential for small and independent producers over the next decade is massive. What does massive growth potential mean for cideries seeking higher profitability and strategic scalability?
There is no time to waste in optimizing and fortifying cideries for the future.
Cider production software for small and independent, local or regional cideries is a key component for paving the path to sweet success. Running a successful cider production company involves proper inventory and process management, traceability, and powerful business intelligence for more informed decision making. When a cidery is established enough to seek growth, the first step is choosing the right cider production software suited for their needs.
Cider production software with powerful business intelligence, dynamic inventory control, exceptional process management, and best-in-class traceability
Cider is as versatile as any adult beverage, don’t let the apples fool you. Cider, while typically created from fermented apples, can be made from just about any crushed, fermented fruit. But even apple-based ciders come in all sorts of flavor profiles – just consider the laundry list of apple varieties.
The point? A cidery functions in the craft industry just as beer and spirits. The success of classic or experimental sip relies on the audience. A cider apple may be the go-to for producing a classic cider, however, mixing things up with sweeter apples and a few tart cherries changes the entire experience. A cidery must utilize business intelligence like inventory forecasting, sales and trend analysis, and decision support to know what their customers like, dislike, what they are willing to pay, and what they will like, even if they don’t know it yet. When your door to higher profitability is blocked by the mouths of mostly millennials, the ability to remain flexible and proactive with production is the way through.
For a growing cidery, knowing what works, what doesn’t work, what will never work, and what may work at the right time, is the best way to satisfy customers.
Inventory Forecasting eliminates inventory guesswork and determines per-item demand by optimizing inventory investment.
- Establish minimum stock quantity for each item based on expected demand
- Set alerts for when an item drops to reorder point/low on stock
- Auto-generate purchase orders based on inventory requirements
- Enable recommended reorder items & quantities based on set stocking levels and primary suppliers
- Evaluate vendor options and purchase-quantity per product, edit as needed
Sales & Trend Analysis helps improve purchasing and demand planning.
- Better predict future production and purchasing needs
- Craft marketing plans based on product profitably to improve ROI
- Uncover geographical trends to potentially enable cost savings
- Use product-level sales information for more efficient supply chain strategy
Decision Support utilizes centralized data, analysis, and operational visibility to inform decision making.
- Access detailed, historical customer records
- Utilize historical data for analyzing operational and customer trends, uncovering time and cost savings
- Monitor real-time key performance indicators
- Strengthen business management and expedite problem-solving
Acctivate cider production software with dynamic inventory control
For a product-centric venture, a high-level of visibility and control over inventory is critical. Understanding what is on the shelves, in process, on backorder, or pre-assigned at any given time allows a business to make inventory decisions at the drop of a hat. Real-time inventory management keeps a cidery consistently up to date on availability, product movements, and re-order needs of raw and finished goods. When a cider production software offers real-time inventory management, a cidery experiences a reduction in overheads and steadier cash flows.
With Inventory Control:
- Store/track an unlimited number of inventory items in real-time
- Enter multiple alternate product IDs and description per product (SKU, UPC, industry-specific, vendor-specific, etc.)
- Easily view inventory (per location) on hand, available, committed, on order, on reserve
- Control substitutions, bill of materials, costing, and multi-tiered pricing
- Implement barcoding and mobile tools for more efficient inventory processing & fulfillment
- Always know true costs with landed cost and/or multi-currency
Cider production software with exceptional process management
The cider production process can make or break a cidery. Process mismanagement can lead to a host of problems for a growing cidery. When there is a chaos on the production floor, the aftermath will be found stamped across financials, inventory, sales, purchasing, and so on. Eliminating chaos in the cider process is the bridge to achieving desirable productivity and profitability. With cider production software, a cider producer can easily control the journey of raw materials from purchase to the bottling of finished goods.
With Process Management:
- Components may be adjusted based on seasonal requirements, availability, or required substitutions
- Easily handle variations in input recipe for substitution and quantity changes
- Enjoy variable recipe and variable yield capabilities
- Account for spillage and waste
- Handle multiple lots of the same ingredients
- Precise costing by batch
With Bill of Materials (BOM) & Assemblies:
- Determine components and quantities necessary for batch production and assembly (bottling/canning/kegging) with BOM
- Adjust BOM per product at any time while preserving prior transaction history
- Determine assembly components (ex. BOM for specific batch, chosen container)
- Once assemblies are completed, depleted inventory used in the assembly will be reflected and the assembly itself will be a new “finished good”
- COGs roll forward from components to finished goods
Acctivate cider production software for QuickBooks
Got QuickBooks? Acctivate is the premier solution for cideries using QuickBooks and seeking growth. Through a bi-directional integration, Acctivate provides advanced inventory and business management while allowing a cidery’s financials to remain within QuickBooks.
Cider production software with best-in-class traceability
Keeping detailed accounts of raw ingredients and finished goods within and outside of a cidery is critical for any food or beverage producer. Accountability is required by the Food and Drug Administration and accountability is provided by cideries through traceability. In the face of a recall, being able to pinpoint the recipient of potentially adulterated batches in seconds fortifies a business against the financial consequences of having to remove an undisclosed number of products from the market.
With Traceability:
- Comply with industry regulations and always be recall ready
- Track an unlimited number of raw and finished goods by lot or serial numbers end-to-end, including lot numbers for ingredients used in cider production
- Track assembled products (single bottle/can, 6-pack, 12-pack, 24-pack, etc.) beyond the warehouse with lot numbers
- Manage and track quality-control issues, expiry dates, lot, inspection, and quarantine information
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