Designation officially reserved December 30, 2014

Credits : Les producteurs de cidre du Québec

In a legal opinion issued in the Gazette officielle du Québec on December 30, 2014, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Quebec has recognized as a reserved designation linked to a terroir the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) Québec Ice Cider.

According to the Act Respecting Reserved Designations and Added-Value Claims, the PGI-Québec Ice Cider recognition aims to protect its authenticity and its geographical name. The use of this designation is now reserved for products certified according to the designation's specification manual.

A product originating from Québec.
Fruit of our winter and our savoir-faire.

Quebec Ice Cider is a product whose origin, specificity and reputation stem from the Québec province. It is a Québécois creation. This product is the result of the combination of three factors: characteristics related to the history of apple production in Québec; the subsequent development of cider production; and the innovation consisting of concentrating the sugars in the apple and juice using natural cold.

The concentration of sugars, by the interaction with natural cold in the juice or directly in the entire apple, is an innovation that the first ice cider producers and processors mastered and adapted to the specific characteristics of local geographical conditions and ambitious quality objectives.

The 2000s marked the growing recognition of certain products by consumers and the commercial development of ice cider with the arrival of many new producers.

The reserved designation ensures the protection of the know-how and authenticity of this Québec product.

Some key facts

• It takes approximately 9.5 kg of apples to produce 1 litre of ice cider (four to five times more apples than most other ciders) [source: CAQ].
• There are about 50 ice cider producers in Quebec, which are mainly located in Montérégie, the Capitale-Nationale region, the Eastern Townships and the Laurentians [source: CAQ].
• The net sales of ice cider at the SAQ for the 2011-2012 fiscal year were valued at $6.4 M, more than 400,000 bottles of ice cider among the range of 55 products.
• Approximately 50% of ice cider production is sold at the SAQ [source: SAQ].