THE market for hard cider in the U.S. continues to grow yearly, so much so the industry can't keep up with the demand. This shortage of bittersweet, bittersharp, and sharp apples comes as the industry has experienced a more than eightfold increase inhard cider production from 2008 to 2012, according to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau."The growth rate is anywhere from 50% to 75% from the previous year. This includes the big producers making more [hard] cider and includes a lot of new producers getting into the market and some wineries and some breweries also starting to make cider," says Greg Peck, assistant professor, tree fruit horticulture with Virginia Polytechnic University.To keep up with this exponential growth, most hard cider producers are taking whatever apples they can get.
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