Cider Sensory Trials
Developing premium ciders from New Zealand bred apples
The ingredients are science, technology, industry collaboration – and specially bred apples. Massey University and Cider Apples New Zealand are partnering in the development of premium ciders - aiming to shift New Zealand produced apple cider from its current status as a sweet, casual drink designed to compete with RTDs, to being a sophisticated beverage sought after here and internationally.
At Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, crucial steps are being taken in the development of a beverage category that aims to emulate the global success of New Zealand sauvignon blanc wine.
Massey scientists led by food technologist Dr Charles Diako, colleagues Daniel Playne, Amanda Duplas and Annu Mehta, and industry organisation Cider Apples New Zealand (CANZ) are collaborating in a research project focused on understanding and enhancing the perception of apple cider, exploring how cider made from newly developed New Zealand apple varieties can be positioned in a growing market as a premium product that is more complex, and of appeal to consumers here and around the globe.
CANZ has been set up by cider industry experts Allan White, a leading apple breeder previously with Plant & Food Research, and John Powell, a long-time cider maker and New Zealand’s only certified pommelier.
They say (as was the case in the early days of wine in New Zealand) the cider industry here is currently dominated by sweet, easy-drinking ciders. What they want to offer is a more premium beverage made from specially bred apples with higher acidity, tannins, and aromatic qualities, rather than the standard eating apples currently used by cider makers.
Their belief is that such premium ciders stand to achieve a billion-dollar apple cider export sector for New Zealand within the next 15 years, with the added benefit of a much lower environmental footprint than fresh fruit exports and the potential to optimise the use of less productive agricultural land to grow special cider apple varieties.
In Massey’s high-tech Food Experience and Sensory Testing (Feast) laboratory, Dr Diako and his team are using digital and immersive technologies to simulate real-world consumption environments, such as bars or social settings, in their consumer taste testing of the new trial ciders.
He explains this approach aims to improve the ‘ecological validity’, meaning that the consumer responses more accurately reflect how people perceive cider in realistic contexts (rather than a highly controlled setting like a sensory booth) with the goal being to better understand how context influences cider liking, perception of sensory attributes, emotional response, and willingness to pay.
Using technology, including the likes of Meta Quest headsets and a digital immersive space, Dr Diako and his team can create just about any virtual environment imaginable for the people participating in the tasting – be it at Foxton Beach, a cocktail bar overlooking Sydney Harbour, or a Christmas cabin with log fires and snow falling outside the windows.
The reality, they know, is that if they put somebody in an environment more typical of one where they would normally drink or eat, versus a laboratory, and give them the same product to taste, their perception of that product can be different.
The Feast tasting and evaluation follows consumer testing that included an event in 2025 in Shanghai, where CANZ arranged for three ciders produced from specially bred cider apples were paired with distinctly New Zealand cuisine, to be included in a showcase of New Zealand food and beverages in a reproduction of chef Ben Bayley’s Auckland Ahi restaurant.
The event was attended by some 100 Chinese beverage industry representatives, including wine importers and distributors, as well as Michelin star restauranteurs, influencers, and New Zealand government officials led by Todd McLay (Minister of Trade and Enterprise Development). They paid NZ$500 to be there, indicating they were serious key trade professionals, and intrigued by the beverages and foodstuffs on offer. The ciders profiles were recorded with guidance from structured tasting cards and the responses provided guidance for further sensory and market research trials for CANZ.
A report prepared following the event recorded reactions to the ciders. They were widely praised for their ‘approachability and refreshment, and their food pairing ability’, from seafood and other savoury entrees to desserts. Key positive attributes such as ‘fine bubbles’ and ‘smooth finishes’ were noted, and characteristics ranged from ‘delicate and aromatic’ to ‘complex and intense’. Allan adds the event was very useful in helping to understand some of the drivers that are important, particularly in China, where cider is an emerging beverage.
The cider research project runs until the end of 2026 and is funded by Massey and the Ministry of Primary Industries, along with others, including Callaghan Innovation.