Aspall, the premium cyder brand from Suffolk, is returning to India after an absence of over 100 years.
It is to distribute its super premium brand, Aspall Suffolk Cyder, which was previously available in India in 1902 when Lord Kitchener of Khartoum and Baron of Aspall had the drink sent over by his cousin JB Chevallier, great-grandfather of current owners of Aspall, Barry and Henry Chevallier Guild, for officers to drink in their messes across India.
The cyder is being initially sold in premium outlets in Mumbai and hopes to expand distribution into Maharashtra and Bangalore. Godrej Nature’s Basket, India’s foremost retail destination for fine foods from across the world, has listed Aspall Premier Cru, Aspall Perronelle’s Blush and Aspall Imperial in its 11 Mumbai outlets.
Indian consumers will also be able to buy the cyders from a number of on-trade venues in Mumbai, such as Café Zoo, Barking Deer, Woodside Inn and Busaba.
Henry Chevallier Guild said: “We are delighted that our cyder is available to the Indian market again after an absence of 110 years. Our cyder has been available in other emerging markets such as Russia, Japan, Brazil and China for several years now, and this seemed the right time to return to the Indian market, having been watching it closely for three years.
“If you look back in history, before India Pale Ale became the staple of the empire, it was the English cyders the East India captains would carry as their alcohol stock.
Like Aspall Cyder, which has been spelt this way since it was first made in 1728, all of these cyders were spelt with a ‘Y’, likely denoting they were double-fermented to a higher alcohol to survive the journey.”
