West Midlands cider producer celebrates successful summer and Aldi partnership

Aston Manor Cider was founded in 1983 and is currently the second-largest cider maker in the UK, with four sites across the West Midlands, including its National Distribution Centre in Birmingham and cider press in Stourport.

The business has worked with Aldi for a decade and said that summer sales of its popular seasonal ciders, Blood Orange and Taurus Islands, went through the roof, with more than 1.6 million cans flying off the shelves at Aldi.

Whilst the partnership began with Aston Manor supplying Aldi with its core range of ciders, the list of products on offer has expanded over the years to include Specialbuy flavours such as Bubblegum, Strawberry Laces and Lemon Sherbet, as well as its festive Glitterberry Cider.

The long-term partnership with Aldi has helped Aston Manor to grow significantly as a business, allowing it to not only experiment with new flavours, but also to invest in its manufacturing capabilities.

George Southall, grocery controller at Aston Manor, said: “Our partnership with Aldi has been invaluable to our product development over the past few years, and the supermarket’s willingness to offer customers the latest flavours to try has really allowed us to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

“The success of our partnership lies with our joint commitment to high-quality standards and the desire to create the very best products, and we’re looking forward to seeing what the next few years bring.”

Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of Buying at Aldi UK, said: “Aston Manor is a much-valued supplier to Aldi and their brilliant range of flavours are a particular hit with customers.

“At Aldi, we take pride in championing British suppliers like Aston Manor, and we look forward to seeing what new and exciting flavours our customers will get to sample next.”

In 2023, Aldi spent an additional £1.3 billion with British suppliers and now works with around 5,000 local suppliers across the UK.