When your cidery starts out, branding may take a backseat to the product itself. It could start with pouring at a Farmers’ Market, sharing stories of your harvest, doing things like fermentation trials and the love that went into every bottle. That kind of passion can help with sales.
But when your cider leaves the farm and hits retail shelves, everything changes. The story can’t rely on your presence anymore — and needs to speak from the shelf. That’s when packaging stops being a formality and becomes one of your brand’s most powerful tools.
Amanda DeVries, creative director at Eye Candy Design, encouraged cidery members at the 2025 CiderCon to think about branding not as a logo or color scheme, but as the essence of what others say about the brand when no one is there to represent the product. She said it’s the feeling someone gets when they look at your can, and the narrative they attach to your product. That’s why she emphasizes beginning with a compelling origin story.
“You need to know why you do what you do,” DeVries said. “It can’t just be that you know how to make good cider. That’s not enough to move someone emotionally.”
Successful storytelling starts with clarity of purpose, she said. Whether it’s the artisanal ethos behind Tito’s as a vodka brand or the regionally anchored prestige of Sauza Tequila, brands that thrive understand how to turn process or location into a selling point.
“You can use your process as your story,” DeVries said. “Or use your place — especially if you’re in a historically or agriculturally significant area. That sense of identity is key.”
For cider, this could mean spotlighting heirloom apple varieties from your region, the generational legacy of your orchard, or even the unlikely path that brought your team together. DeVries urges simplicity.
“Keep it real. Keep it simple. And tell it in a way your customers understand,” she said. “They shouldn’t need to be fermentation geeks to get it.”
Storytelling becomes even more potent when it’s reflected visually in your packaging. Here’s where many cideries hit a creative bottleneck: the apple logo. DeVries made this point to a room of cidery professionals with caution.
“We’re not throwing shade,” DeVries said. “But when every cider logo has an apple in it, they start to blur together.”
She challenges companies to rethink the instinctive apple motif.
“The word ‘cider’ is often right there on the label,” she noted. “Do you really need an apple too?”
This is less about banning fruit imagery and more about encouraging originality. The logo is rarely seen in isolation, she pointed out and it’s usually part of a can design, a sales sheet or a taproom menu. That context can do the work of identifying your product. Meanwhile, your logo should be working harder: to express mood, tone, and brand personality.
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“If you keep the apple, can you make it unexpected? Can you style it in a way that evokes your story, not just the category,” she asked.
DeVries points out that the cider space isn’t saturated yet. There’s still room to be bold, to zig where others zag. The brands that stand out embrace what makes them different — from hand-drawn labels to design motifs that reflect place or philosophy.
“Cider packaging has an opportunity to break the mold,” she said. “It can borrow from the playfulness of craft beer, the elegance of wine, or carve its own path entirely.”
For cideries looking to grow, now is the time to develop a brand personality. Think beyond typography and logos. Ask: if your cidery were a person, what would it sound like? What would it wear? Would it tell long stories or quick jokes? Would it speak with rustic confidence or modern swagger?
Because ultimately, packaging isn’t just a container. It’s a conversation starter, a handshake, a promise. And in an industry where your face can’t always be there to explain the product, your packaging and brand must do that work for you and be clear, unique, and memorable.
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