IRISH DRINKS group CC will be closely guarding its patch in the UK following Carlsberg’s move into the British cider market.

The Danish drinks giant has decided to launch its Somersby cider brand, which has been available throughout continental Europe since 2008, in the UK.

The brand is hitting supermarket shelves there this month and will be available in pubs early next year. There are no plans yet to bring it to Ireland.

Carlsberg is the latest international drinks company to tap into the cider renaissance which has hit the UK in recent years.

Last year Stella Artois launched its Cidre brand last year, aiming to capitalise on a burgeoning drinks category and directly competing with CC’s cider brands (CC has about 18 per cent of the UK cider market between its Magners and Gaymers brands)

According to a spokeswoman for Carlsberg UK, the UK version of Somersby has been specifically formulated to appeal to the British palate and is an “entirely different liquid” than the Somersby on sale on the continent.

More importantly for CC, Somersby is being marketed as a “mainstream” cider drink, which means that it is probably more likely to appeal to Strongbow drinkers, rather than Magners, which is seen as a more “premium” product. Specifically, Somersby has been designed not to be served over ice, a key differentiator from Magners.

CC has succeeded in turning around its ailing UK cider business – which failed to capitalise on its early success in the UK – in recent times, with Magners delivering revenue growth for the first time in five years last year.

While CC’s senior management have consistently said that they welcome competition, pointing out that new entrants to the market point to the vitality and growth potential of the cider category generally, no doubt they’ll be watching the performance of the latest entrant to the British cider market closely.