Good apple: Galipette Cidre brings a taste of northern France to a thirsty world

The heritage of French cider-making dates back to the 8th century, a time when sugars were natural and sweeteners a distant dream. Back then, it was all about the quality of the fermented apple juice. Galipette Cidre has paid tribute to this longstanding French tradition with its contemporary, all-natural cidres, which are ’the essence of purity’ according to co-founder Michael Nordblom.

The idea was inspired by Nordblom's family vacations to northwest France. He remembers being struck by the ‘beautiful nature, great food and friendly people’ – but also the local cidre, which he believes to be ’of the highest quality in the world’.

In north west France, cidre is typically paired with food – specifically savoury crepes, which are the regional dish of Brittany. ‘While the marriage works well, our idea was to introduce the best-in-class cider for other occasions.’ Nordblom realised the potential versatility of Brittany's low-alcohol, floral ciders, and saw an international market.

The small team of three dedicated entrepreneurs ‘naturally all do bit of everything’, and look to local partnerships for authenticity. ‘From a craft point of view, we work with a co-operative in Brittany which consists of hundreds of local apple farmers who grow and harvest the fruit every autumn.’ The co-op then pushes the cidre through a rigorous, eight-step process, concluding in bottling – which happens just down the road from where the apples are grown.

To celebrate its heritage-meets-contemporary product, Galipette sought a like-minded, small design company to bring the branding into the 21st century. Werklig, a vibrant Helsinki-based firm, specialises in typography and graphic design. ‘From the start, Werklig demonstrated how to bring about our vision in an impactful way,’ Nordblom says. ‘Plus, they are collaborative and honest.’

The smart packaging and cleverly designed interactive website inject an element of contemporary class to the otherwise highly traditional cider – which tastes as good as it looks, as proven by a recent gold medal in the International Brewing and Cider Awards. Bottoms up!

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Galipette Cidre website