Premiumisation, changing drinking habits and the rise of newer cider styles are reshaping UK cider, according to the latest Heineken Cider Report 2026.

Focused on the on-trade, the report is a useful indicator of how cider is performing in the UK against a backdrop of broader pressure on alcohol volumes. Despite wider challenges, Heineken’s assessment is that cider remains a resilient category and continues to evolve as consumer preferences shift towards sweeter styles, premium products and more varied flavour profiles.

The headline figure is this: the UK remains the world’s largest cider market, with more than 450 producers supplying a category worth around £2bn annually to hospitality.

According to the report, cider is now the second-fastest growing drinks category in the UK on-trade. Value growth sits at 3.5% year-on-year and accounts for around 6.4% of total wet sales in terms of value.

Hyping up the category, Will Wice, on-trade director at Heineken UK, said cider “is fully deserving of space and focus in pubs and bars of all sizes and shapes”, driven by evolving tastes and consumers premiumising their choices.

“While there are volume challenges, as there are across all drinks categories in the on-trade, cider is highly resilient, no matter the challenges that exist in the overall trading environment.”

While overall alcohol consumption has come under pressure, the report suggests cider has held up better than many rival categories, increasing its share of alcohol serves over the past decade as beer, wine and spirits have lost ground compared with their pre-pandemic levels.

However, the category has not been immune to wider trends. Total cider volumes declined 4% over the past 12 months, broadly mirroring the decline across the wider drinks market.

Competition from other long alcoholic drinks, including RTDs, cocktails and hard seltzers, has also intensified in recent years. These categories increasingly compete with cider on flavour, refreshment and occasion, particularly among younger consumers.

Nevertheless, cider continues to benefit from its flexibility and ability to attract different types of drinkers.

One key shift has been the emergence of a broader spectrum of styles. While classic brands such as Strongbow and Stowford Press remain widely consumed, younger drinkers are increasingly gravitating towards sweeter, fresher-tasting options. This trend has helped drive the rapid growth of ‘mainstream apple’, which sits between traditional and premium ciders in terms of price and positioning.

At the same time, premium apple cider has become an important growth driver. The report notes that half of cider drinkers are willing to upgrade their drink choice, creating an opportunity for premium brands such as Aspall and others positioned around provenance, quality and craft cues.

Flavoured cider remains another major pillar. Once dominated by a small number of mainstream products, premium fruit variants are now gaining ground.

Elsewhere, premium flavoured cider’s share of the draught flavoured segment has risen sharply in recent years, climbing from 17.5% four years ago to 37.8% last year, reflecting growing consumer interest in fruit-led drinks.

More broadly, the report suggests cider’s ability to adapt to changing consumption habits is helping sustain the category.

Long-term moderation trends continue to reshape the alcohol market as UK alcohol consumption has fallen by more than 25% over the past 25 years.

Even so, cider appears to be maintaining a stable role within drinking occasions. The average UK consumer now drinks three cider serves per on-trade occasion, a figure that has increased slightly compared with last year.

In markets such as London and the south east, flavoured draught cider has been a particularly strong driver of growth, while the south west continues to show strong demand for traditional apple brands.

Overall, it seems that cider remains an adaptable category capable of responding to evolving consumer expectations, even as structural challenges remain.

For more, our Annual Buyers Guide to Cider is out next week, where we will be diving into Westons new report, the future of Perry and how the category can overcome a reliance on seasonal drinking trends.