Cider Corner: The Keys Talbott’s Has Learned from Business Partnerships

Early in its existence, Breckenridge Brewery put Talbott’s Cider under its wing and the cidery’s CEO, Charles Talbott, said it’s been a huge blessing for the brand.

Existing for more than 100 years as a fruit farm and cider mill before launching the company’s hard cider line and winery (Centennial Cellars), Talbott expressed gratitude to Breckenridge in helping the company build its organization by dedicating marketing and promotional dollars.

“We’ve had high success with them,” Talbott said. “There are different scenarios that have helped us to build our organization outside of ourselves that have been really cool to watch over the past couple of years.”

Two years ago, Talbott’s did a collaboration called Colorado Core, which was the first Apple/American Blonde in Colorado.

“It did not do as well as it hoped,” Talbott said. “So they ended up pulling the product. But right after, they called us right back up and said let’s try something else.

“So we did the Palisade Peach Wheat, which is now the No. 1 distributed beer in the state of Colorado. It’s allowed us to be put into bigger positions. The biggest advantage to what they’ve provided for us is paying the sponsorships for festivals and such. And we are their gluten-free alternative.”

Talbott thinks the biggest thing that Breckenridge has done is made the cidery solidify who they are.

“We’re a company that makes everything true to form. No concentrates or added sugars,” Talbott said. “They’ve helped solidify that if you’re going to perform in this industry, you’ve got to make yourself different, but once you commit to who you are, you better damn well be who you are.

“And as far as management — just working with an organization — they’re on an entirely different level. They’ve been where we’re at now and all the way up to corporate, which has its challenges at the same time. But it’s taught us a lot on both the management side and on working with people. Working with them, we’re seeing things before things happen. And no one has an exact solution, but they help us fight the battles.”