A Stutz a day...

BY SARA KEDDY

Kings County Register

If you’re looking for a good drink, “cider is just perfect.

“Beer is too heavy, coolers are too sugary, rum is too strong....” says The Cider House’s owner, Hans Peter Stutz.

He was pitching his product’s potential to 50 guests attending the Western Kings Board of Trade’s June 10 quarterly meeting, a “picnic” on the production floor of the apple cider offshoot of Grand Pre Wines, based in the Berwick Industrial Park and in operation for eight months.

“This is a great idea - to visit businesses, and not build borders,” Stutz said, and he went on to describe some of the red tape he’s run into promoting Stutz Hard Apple Cider in the last few years.

“I’m happy to be in Berwick - the ‘apple capital of Nova Scotia’ - and I think we can start a beautiful concept here if you’re ready, and start thinking about exporting. It’s the only way to expand.

“The red tape around alcoholic beverages in Canada is 50 years old: it’s easier for me to send to the U.S. than across a provincial border.”

When he looks at his sales - 22,000 cases of cider in Atlantic Canada last year - compared to 250,000 cases in Ontario and 1.1 million in British Columbia “that’s our challenge.”

He wants that Canadian market - at least until the U.S. dollar strengthens, and he is already working on European sales, where the Euro is a strong purchasing power.

Stutz looked for any farm businessmen in the room, calling on them to look at supplying the cider market with traditional apples at good quality.

“We have enough apples here, yes - but we need the Russet, the Northern Spy. I don’t like this trend all to the Honey Crisp. replant these old apples and get a better price for them, they have beautiful taste. There is huge opportunity for the future.”

He expects to grow from 200,000 litres this year to 600,000 litres next year, and intends to expand his production area to include more tanks and perhaps a bottling line.

“Are farmers stepping up after hearing you talk and getting excited?” asked guest Randy Sanford.

“Farmers are wise people and resourceful - slow to change, but they need to see results,” said Cider House manager Alan Stewart. “Our job is to show them the possibilities.”

Stewart and Stutz both said there is encouragement for agriculture-related partnerships looking at innovation and new products from the provincial and federal departments of agriculture.