First Scottish Cider Range to Hit the Shelves at Asda

05 Feb 2015 --- Thistly Cross cider is celebrating after securing a deal with Asda to stock five varieties of its heritage ciders across 56 stores in Scotland, with a contract value of £150,000 to the end of this year.

Contract value of £150k to the end of this year Available in 56 stores across Scotland.

The Asda deal will see the following fruit and apple cider lines; Original 7.2%, Traditional 4.4%, Real Strawberry, Real Ginger and Whisky Cask 6.9% all stocked in stores from this month.

Based in East Coast Scotland on the fourth generation family farm, Thistly Cross is Scotland's original cider maker. The company currently employs 14 staff at its East Lothian site, producing a wide range of premium award winning farmhouse ciders using quality Scottish produce.

It is thanks to the sales success of its locally produced cider that Thistly Cross has taken on additional employees to cope with the demand, doubling in size over the last year.

The strawberries are grown on South Belton farm, near Dunbar, where the cider is made, while the whisky cask version is aged for a minimum of six months in single malt Scotch casks previously used by Glen Moray distillery.

Julia Rennie, Thistly Cross Company Director, said: "We are delighted to have secured our first listing with Asda.

"Our cider is made in Scotland from the finest quality fruits, so it's great to see that Asda is continuing to invest in providing a range of products full of Scottish provenance and taste."

Brian O'Shea, Asda's regional buying manager for Scotland, said: "The Thistly Cross cider products are premium quality and will give customers a new and local choice.

"Feedback from everyone who has tried the new lines has been incredibly positive so we look forward to working with the business closely and hopefully increasing the range of products available in-store in due course."

Asda met Thistly Cross through an introduction by Scotland Food & Drink at one of their Access to Markets events.