Red Rover Heads Over to NB Liquor
FREDERICTON – If you want Red Rover, you can soon head right over to your local NB Liquor store.
By the end of the week Red Rover Craft Cider will be available at NB Liquor locations in Fredericton, Saint John and Dieppe (they are already stocked in Fredericton now).
Before now, their products were only available at local farmers’ markets around the province or at special events. Owner Adam Clawson said it’s always been the intention to bring Red Rover onto shelves, but they’ve had some unique hurdles.
“Our company is in the unique situation of being the only alcohol producer in the province to hold a winery license without falling under ANBL’s cottage winery policy,” Clawson said. “This means that the markups applied to our product are extremely high and in the beginning it made no sense for us to think about packaging for stores as we could not afford to sell cider at a reasonable price and pay the ANBL markups.”
Now, with a new agreement with ANBL, that’s all changed. You can now purchase Spring, Fall and Fire Cider. These are semi-dry apple, cinnamon & clove spiced and ginger-cayenne ciders, respectively. They are available in 750ml bottles for $9.60. The company plans on adding more stores to the delivery schedule over the next few weeks and hopes by the summer Red Rover will be available province-wide.
For Clawson, it’s a great way for the company to start the New Year. He’s excited to see the reception, because they’ve been looking at other ways to expand in the Maritimes.
“There have been so many challenges along the way that to finally have product on shelves feels like a huge step forward. I’m also pretty nervous and keen to find out how it is received by the wider public, especially people who haven’t tried it before,” Clawson said. “So far the response to our announcement has been overwhelmingly positive, which is very exciting too.”