This US State Now Claims To Be The Hard Cider Capital Of The World — But Is It?

Yesterday, the press office of Governor Kathy Hochul put out a post on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, proclaiming "New York is now The Hard Cider Capital of the World." Below the message, a photo was attached boasting that the Empire State has more active cideries than any of its 49 U.S. state competitors, as well as highlighting the significant growth in the industry over the past decade. While there is no doubt that the cider market is growing in the U.S., and that New York is home to many apple orchards and hard cider brands, at best, the governor's statement is aspirational, and at worst is downright wrong.

The second half of the statement attached to the governor's post presents a plan to continue growing the cider industry in the state with the intent to turn it into an agri-tourism pilgrimage for lovers of fermented apple juice. The hope is to draw visitors from around the country — and, seemingly, the world — to visit the orchards and tasting rooms where these apples are grown and ciders made, celebrating a beverage with a long history in both the state and the country. While it was the go-to drink for early U.S. colonists, hard cider fell out of favor with American drinkers, leading to a current state of affairs in which U.S. consumption and production of the drink falls well below that of some other countries. There could be a future in which the governor's claim is closer to the truth, as the state attempts to expand the reach of its cider industry, but right now it is still far from that goal.

For starters, the country that produces the most hard cider is not the United States. France still holds that title, with Normandy and Brittany in Northwestern France being particularly renowned for their cider production. With higher levels of production and a cider industry that dates back to at least the 6th century, if we're talking about a cider capital of the world, that Northwest corner of France might have something to say about Hochul's claims.

If we shift gears to consumption of hard cider, well, New Yorkers — and the U.S. in general — are far from the lead there as well. As of 2024, Europe consumed more than half of the cider in the world. To illustrate the difference in scale with hard numbers, 2023 data indicated that Western European countries spent about $7.5 billion on cider, amounting to roughly 1.3 billion liters of the stuff, whereas consumers in North America drank only around 250 million liters of cider, with the total bill coming to just $2.4 billion. In fact, the U.K., which is less than twice the size of New York State and has a population around 20% that of the U.S., drinks around 840 million liters of cider annually, or around 3.4 times the cider consumed in all of North America.

Clearly, Governor Hochul got a bit ahead of herself with this sweeping proclamation. New York neither produces nor consumes the most cider in the world — not even close. Yes, the industry is on the rise, and the state's desire to capitalize on this is admirable, but being home to The Big Apple is not enough to justify these claims. If New York ever hopes to wear that particular mantle, they still have a long way to go.