Wealthy young adults are now obsessed with cider

Cider is the fastest-growing adult beverage in the world. And it’s not oldsters in the U.K., cider’s traditional powerhouse drinkers, that’s driving the growth.

It’s rich young people.

According to a new report from financial firm Rabobank, wealthy Americans aged 21-34 years old are drinking ever more cider.  “Growing numbers of younger, more affluent consumers appear to be broadening their drinking repertoire” with the beverage, per the report’s authors.

Given cider’s equal appeal to men and women, it should be seen as “a worthy competitor to a diverse range of alcoholic drinks.”

Here’s the chart showing U.S. growth. U.S. cider sales have tripled in volume since 2012, growing to 7.8 million cases in 2014.

Young adults in the non-British Anglophone world in general are also topping up. In Australia, one-fifth of 18-to-34 year-old male consumers drank cider over an average four-week period in 2014, three times as many as four years earlier. It’s a smaller percentage of women, but their consumption rate is growing faster than males there.

While overall cider consumption volumes remain small, the cider surge is evidence that, like many other consumer industries, the alcohol market is splintering. Rabobank suggests wine has potentially the most to lose.

“The impact might still be at the margin, but wine companies need to seriously consider what might lead their current and future consumers astray as cider once again enters the big leagues in key markets at home and abroad,” they write.

Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.