PUDDICOMBE CIDER
WHO: Brock Puddicombe, owner
WHERE: Winona
EMPLOYEES: 5 working on cider
FIRST RELEASED CIDER: 2011 puddicombecider.com
BROCK PUDDICOMBE was back working at his family’s landmark Winona farm after graduating university when the local pear industry saw a downturn in 2008.
CanGo Foods was closing the last fruit canning plant in Canada, where Puddicombe Estate Farms — one of Ontario’s largest pear growers — had been sending about 15 to 20 per cent of its pear harvest.
“The market was flooded,” said Puddicombe, noting everyone was trying to sell their fruit to grocery stores. “There were a lot of pears that got dumped.”
Already the family had Puddicombe Estate Winery, where his sister Lindsay was the winemaker. That’s when he started thinking of expanding their craft to include cider making.
Brother and sister set off to Britain for a two-week tour of cideries the following year. On returning home, they started experimenting with recipes, learning by trial and error, before launching Sir Isaac’s Premium Pear Cider in 2011.
For three years they stuck to pear, then branched out with apple and peach ciders two years ago. Now they’re looking at cherry.
Sir Isaac’s pear and peach ciders are available in the LCBO, and they hit eligible grocery store shelves at the end of June. The apple variety is only available at Puddicombe’s sprawling Winona farm, home to its winery, cidery, farm market and country store, café and other agri-businesses.
Most of the apples for the cider are grown on site, as well as about 25 per cent of the pears; the rest comes from other Ontario farms. Their cider production is growing fairly rapidly, which is good for the growers, Puddicombe says.
“The industry has definitely emerged to the point where it’s putting more money back into the growers, which is what it’s all about. We’re growing for the grower.”
Cider making at Puddicombe Estate is becoming more streamlined. Last year, a brand new canning line was installed and they’re expecting delivery of a new juicing facility this month. Combined with plans to revamp and dedicate one of the barns on the property for fruit pressing, it’s a “fairly sizable” investment.
And not just for cider, although they are selling about 120,000 litres a year. They’re also pressing apples, peaches and pears for other cideries as well as juice companies.
Puddicombe credits the federal-provincial “Growing Forward 2” funding as being a major driver of their ability to increase capacity. It covered 35 per cent of the cost of the canning and juicing lines.