Tours 'essential' to cider farm survival

James Meller, from Rocquette Cider, says money from the tours make up a large part of his turnover

The owner of a Guernsey cider farm has said money generated from tours around the orchards is "essential" to help his business succeed.

James Meller, managing director at Rocquette Cider, started giving tours more than ten years ago and said it had increased in popularity year by year.

He said it helped his business stand out in a "challenging market with lots of other ciders around".

Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller, Economic Development President, said it was important local producers "innovate" how they delivered their services.

Mr Meller, who has been part of Rocquette Cider since it began in 1998, said cider drinking had increased over the past few years.

"In the UK you have orchardists growing a large amount of apples to supply the cider industry and since the resurgence of cider there's been an over-supply of apples in England so cider producers are spoilt for choice", he said.

"Over here [in Guernsey] we don't have so much, we grow a lot of our own and we also appeal to the public every year to take in apples.

"We've had to produce more and more each year because cider is so popular, so trying to get enough apples is a bit of a challenge."

Mr Meller said he has had to "make space" to be able to upgrade his tours.

He said: "We've had to provide toilets, increase the number of guides and develop the website for online booking.

"The tours are critical for the success of the business, they're such a large part of the turnover and allows us to market ourselves in what is a challenging market with lots of other ciders around."

Jonathan Guille, from Reservoir View Wine, is already offering tours on his freshly planted vinery

Meanwhile Jonathan Guille from Reservoir View Wine said he had just started to offer tours to people of his newly established vineyard.

He planted the vines for his new Reservoir View wine in April and said he was hoping to have the first bottles up for sale by 2028.

"It's a difficult one because you can never tell how people will respond, but we're hopeful that we will get some interest", he said.

"Perhaps if everyone turned up at once that would probably be a bit of a nightmare but we're hoping we'll have some good interest.

"We've just launched some tours for people just to see the other side."

'Absolutely crucial'

Deputy Kazantseva-Miller said the new economic development committee wanted to understand the challenges the rural industry was facing.

"It's not an easy industry to be in and I think it is very important that local producers innovate in how they deliver the services," she said.

"Sometimes [that is] making sure you're offering something for the tourism and visitor sector as well and not just selling that product locally or internationally, whether it's organising tours, selling off-island will be quite important.

"We come from a very horticultural and agricultural background, it's been the bread and butter and being an island it's both the marine resources but also on-island resources that are absolutely crucial and that's what maintained our community over the centuries."