{"id":495726,"date":"2026-06-26T00:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T00:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495726\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T00:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T00:27:10","slug":"inside-new-zealands-bold-bid-to-breed-the-perfect-cider-apple-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495726\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside New Zealand\u2019s bold bid to breed the perfect cider apple"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each has been made from a different apple variety and carefully labelled for assessment.<\/p>\n

Some show promise, others are failures.<\/p>\n

Each bottle represents a question.<\/p>\n

Could this apple produce more aroma? More texture? More complexity? Could it become part of a cider unlike anything currently available?<\/p>\n

There are tasting notes, sample numbers and reminders scattered throughout the workspace.<\/p>\n

Nearby, dozens of brown paper bags filled with apples wait their turn to be crushed, pressed, fermented and scrutinised.<\/p>\n

\" Cider Apples New Zealand co-founder John Powell with some of the 432 experimental cider samples the company will assess this year. Photo \/ Tom Eley<\/p>\n

The problem with cider apples<\/p>\n

Five years ago, Powell approached Allan White, one of New Zealand\u2019s most accomplished apple breeders, with a question.<\/p>\n

Why did New Zealand not have a dedicated cider apple breeding programme?<\/p>\n

White, who managed New Zealand\u2019s apple breeding programme and helped develop internationally recognised varieties including Jazz and Envy, had a simple answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one ever asked us to develop one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, the Cider Apples New Zealand programme, which the pair established in Hawke\u2019s Bay, contains about 12,000 genetically unique apple trees.<\/p>\n

Somewhere among them, Powell believes, are varieties capable of helping create a new premium export industry.<\/p>\n

\" Unlike traditional apples, Pure Blossom reveals pink-red flesh beneath its skin. The variety is among thousands being evaluated by Cider Apples New Zealand in the search for new premium cider apples.<\/p>\n

Learning to make cider<\/p>\n

After spending 15 years in sales and marketing at Tatua Dairy Company, Powell moved to a lifestyle block and planted apple trees.<\/p>\n

The trees flourished, with some producing more than 100kg of fruit.<\/p>\n

Like many home growers, Powell soon found himself with more apples than he knew what to do with.<\/p>\n

A friend who brewed beer suggested making cider.<\/p>\n

The first attempts were not particularly successful, Powell said, so he spent a lot of time reading, experimenting and learning.<\/p>\n

It took about five years before his wife said the cider was good enough to drink.<\/p>\n

For many people, that might have been enough, but for Powell, it became the beginning of something much larger.<\/p>\n

\" From apple to glass. Fruit from Cider Apples New Zealand’s breeding programme is turned into experimental cider samples and evaluated for flavour, aroma, texture and commercial potential.<\/p>\n

Sampling and curiosity<\/p>\n

Powell\u2019s curiosity evolved into something closer to an obsession.<\/p>\n

He travelled overseas to study cider-making, completing courses in Oregon and Britain.<\/p>\n

He judged cider competitions and became a certified pommelier, the cider equivalent of a wine sommelier.<\/p>\n

Eventually, ciders made using apples from the Cider Apples New Zealand programme won awards at the Japan Cider Cup.<\/p>\n

The success reinforced a belief that New Zealand could produce premium ciders capable of competing internationally.<\/p>\n

The deeper Powell dived into the industry, the more convinced he became that New Zealand was missing an opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest problem holding back the cider industry is a lack of decent apples.\u201d<\/p>\n

That belief now drives the Cider Apples New Zealand breeding programme.<\/p>\n

This year alone, the programme will produce and assess 432 individual cider samples, each made from a different apple variety.<\/p>\n

Next year, Powell expects that figure to rise to 500.<\/p>\n

Each sample is fermented separately before being assessed for aroma, flavour, texture, balance and overall potential.<\/p>\n

Most never progress beyond that stage, he said.<\/p>\n

Among the more unusual creations is a bright red cider made from red-fleshed apples. <\/p>\n

Powell believes it has the potential to drink like a premium ros\u00e9 while containing roughly half the alcohol of wine.<\/p>\n

\" John Powell with awards from the Japan Cider Cup. The former dairy executive has spent years studying cider making around the world.<\/p>\n

What Asia wants to drink<\/p>\n

Cider Apples New Zealand is not trying to compete with mainstream cider brands sold alongside beer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to develop new export industries in New Zealand, you can only really afford to develop premium opportunities,\u201d Powell said.<\/p>\n

This mirrors trends identified in the latest Westons Cider Report, an annual industry report produced by United Kingdom cider-maker Westons Cider.<\/p>\n

In Britain, one of the world\u2019s largest cider markets, consumers are increasingly choosing to drink less but drink better, with growth concentrated in premium products and experiences.<\/p>\n

Large commercial brands will continue to dominate much of the market, he said, but a growing number of consumers are willing to pay more for products with character, quality and a story behind them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s that whole provenance, that authenticity, traceability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell said cider still had room to follow the path craft beer had taken.<\/p>\n

Research into international drinking habits has also shaped his programme\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n

Traditional cider apples from England and northern France often produce highly tannic ciders that appeal to established cider drinkers.<\/p>\n

But Powell said distributors in Japan had told him those styles struggled to generate repeat purchases there.<\/p>\n

Consumers in China and Japan increasingly favoured something different.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got to be light, it\u2019s got to be aromatic, it\u2019s got to be fresh and crisp.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ConsumersConsumers in China and Japan increasingly favoured something different to established cider styles.<\/p>\n

The one in 12,000<\/p>\n

From the programme\u2019s 12,000 trees, Powell hopes to identify at least a dozen exceptional varieties that can help New Zealand cider-makers create products unlike anything else in the world.<\/p>\n

He said one of the advantages of developing a cider apple industry was that much of the infrastructure already existed, especially in Hawke\u2019s Bay.<\/p>\n

The programme\u2019s goal is to create new opportunities from this horticultural base.<\/p>\n

One of the new opportunities could be to help establish a new premium export category built on New Zealand apples, innovation and provenance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not interested in capturing 10% of the current market,\u201d Powell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to go out and grow cider internationally, get people excited about cider again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\" Among thousands of young apple trees in Hawke’s Bay, Cider Apples New Zealand co-founder John Powell believes the future of New Zealand cider could already be growing.<\/p>\n

Knowing the odds<\/p>\n

The vision has begun attracting wider support, with investment starting to flow into the breeding work and commercial cider production.<\/p>\n

Powell said the company also received funding from the Ministry for Primary Industries to develop a cider industry roadmap and support its breeding programme.<\/p>\n

For Powell, those developments are signs the industry is beginning to gain momentum, though developing a new horticultural industry takes time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt requires a lot of patience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why there are 12,000 apple trees,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. Before he joined the Hamilton-based team, he worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive. He previously worked as a journalist at Black Press Media in Canada and won a fellowship with the Vancouver Sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each has been made from a different apple variety and carefully labelled for assessment. Some show promise, others…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[351,29652,1040,32131,133590,138,247850,2065,2944,5511,3025,117,111,139,69,384,29392,223,61,2963],"class_list":["post-495726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-apple","tag-apples","tag-bid","tag-bold","tag-breed","tag-business","tag-cider","tag-fruit","tag-inside","tag-just","tag-most","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-people","tag-perfect","tag-the","tag-to","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}