Breakthru Wisconsin Welcomes Crafted Artisan Meadery, Finnriver Farm & Cidery to Craft Portfolio

Mar. 16, 2016

Breakthru Beverage Wisconsin is pleased to announce a new partnership with two fast growing craft producers: Crafted Artisan Meadery and Finnriver Farm & Cidery.

“We are very excited to partner with both Finnriver and Crafted,” said Mark Cirillo, Breakthru WI Director of Beer. “These additions help round out our craft portfolio and show Breakthru’s willingness to expand into untapped categories like cider and mead.”

Both categories have experienced tremendous growth recently. In 2015, cider sales in the US grew by 10.8% over 2014 to a total of $523,593,305 according to Nielsen. In a report published last month by Canadean, the U.S. cider market – the third largest in the world – is predicted to grow at an average annual rate of 12% between 2015 and 2020, compared to an average global growth rate of just 5%.

Mead also has seen a spike in production. According to a study by the American Mead Maker Association, mead’s producer community has exploded 130% since 2011, making it the fastest growing alcoholic beverage category in the US.

“We are seeing more accounts and consumers looking for specialty, boutique craft brands, and that is exactly what Crafted Artisan Meadery and Finnriver Farm & Cidery offer,” said Phil Kuhl, Breakthru WI Craft Beer Specialist and Certified Cicerone.

Breakthru WI first entered into the cider market in March 2015 with Seattle Cider. Adding Finnriver to the portfolio expands the company’s offerings with a brand that is focused on a 'farmcrafted' approach to production and reconnecting people to the land. Founded in 2008 by partners Eric Jorgensen and Keith and Crystie Kisler, Finnriver has grown into an award-winning craft cidery sourcing certified organic apples from around Washington state and growing their own organic orchard of 5,000+ heirloom cider trees on 80 acres of Chimacum Valley soils, on the north Olympic Peninsula of Washington state.

"We are excited to share Finnriver ciders with folks in Wisconsin and to work with the passionate team at Breakthru to share our story and our farmcrafted bottles,” said Crystie Kisler, co-founder of Finnriver.

Crafted Artisan Meadery will be Breakthru Beverage’s first venture into this emerging beverage category. Using the finest locally sourced ingredients, Crafted transforms the work of honeybees and surrounding flora into mead, one of the oldest fermented beverages in the world. They focus on producing an assortment of hydromels, which can be any style of mead, but have less than or equal to 7.5% ABV and are often more sessionable and carbonated.

"We are super excited to be launching our meads in Wisconsin with Breakthru Beverage, who we feel mirrors our values of quality. We have a ton of great things in store and can't wait to introduce our line-up of meads to the Wisconsin market!” said Kent Waldeck, owner and mead-maker at Crafted Artisan Meadery."

Beginning March 21, Breakthru WI will be selling Crafted’s Pollen-Nation, Belgian Meadjito and Codex Combustum. From Finnriver, Breakthru will initially be carrying the Black Currant and Pear, a rotating selection of seasonals, as well as their Artisan Sparkling Cider, a brut champenoise-style cider.