Richard Drax, MP for South Dorset has vowed to support local cider producers who have been struggling following the pandemic. He visited Purbeck Cider in Wareham recently, to speak to the team there about how their business has been impacted by closures, event cancellations and restrictions across the last year and a half.
During his visit, he spoke to Joe Hartle, Purbeck Cider Company’s founder and Mark Hopper, from the National Association of Cider Makers, about their concerns, which included the issue of cider makers’ tanks being blocked with apple harvests from the past two years due to pub closures, which will have to be destroyed to make way for this year’s apples. One way that this issue is being tackled is through a one year freeze on cider taxes, introduced by the Chancellor, but cider producers are concerned that this won’t be enough. The team at Purbeck and the National Association of Cider Makers say that without additional government support, cider apple orchards may not be financially viable and may vanish altogether from the West Country.
Speaking to reporters after his visit, Richard Drax MP said: “It is good to see a local business continue to be optimistic during what has been a difficult time. Cider duty was once again frozen in this year’s budget to help support local pubs and the wider supply chain, but the NACM have made a number of arguments for the future and these issues are definitely something I will look at.”
