To Andy:
Cider Digest has been a mainstay of the cider community since I entered the scene in 2005. It was vital then and is still vital now. It represents a list of people who voluntarily opted in and who can freely contribute when they feel the need.
There is no commercial interest directly related to its continuing. And this makes it feel nice to read and to contribute, even if rarely.
Whether it represents a guild or not is an interesting question. You are probably correct that it does. But in either case, it represents a place for the cider community to communicate the craft with each other if they chose.
Andy's question # 1 - But somehow I see something fundamental dangerous putting
artistic and moral functions under the watch-care of the trade first. Maybe
that's just me?
I agree with that statement. The now named cider trade organization American Cider Association grew directly out of the need to address the poorly constructed federal tax codes for Cider. CiderCON came first though. The first CiderCON was organized by me as an effort to bring the cider industry together in some formal fashion. And just like Cider Digest, that organization started with a list of emails. I paid an intern $75 to consolidate all the existing emails list I could assemble into a master email list of every cider producer in the US. Then I took polls. Based on that list and that information, CiderCON grew, the CIDER Act formed and a cider association began. Many people contributed to this effort. And this served mainly as a trade function.
Andy's question #2 - Anyway, my question here is: Is all of this (differences from trade groups, to guilds, to action-groups I assume) clear
in the minds of people making and selling cider? Does it need to be?
At every CiderCON, I took part in I always stated that my vision of CiderCON was to create a Cider that was both diverse and legitimate. Diverse in the different types, producers, and regions that ciders are made and enjoyed. And legitimate in that the beverages, the makers, the drinkers, the sellers are generally taken seriously overall by suppliers (supply side), by the market (sales side) and by themselves internally. I believe and the sentiment seems clear that cider as an industry never satisfied this vision.
The supply side in terms of equipment and service vendors rose to the occasion. This is obvious from the number of vendors selling items at CiderCON. But that was an easy switch as most the items and services are the same for beer/wine etc. They just needed to be repositioned their existing line-up for cider producers.
Where Cider as diverse and legitimate continues to fall short is on the sales side (within the market). If you are familiar with the book "Crossing the Chasm", I believe that Cider as a concept of being diverse and legitimate never crossed the chasm to reach the main market. Most ciders and cider producers are trapped in what the book describes as the early market. What did cross the chasm was the cider perceived as the "new" wine cooler/malternative/other found mainly in chains and c-stores. These ciders in no way represent the diversity of Cider and have corrupted the concept and undermined the legitimacy of what Cider is and can be for a majority of the market. But I believe this is not necessarily a bad thing.
The early market, people who do not want what everyone else has already and want to feel special about what they have, is large and wealthy. It is just very scattered. That is where high-end wines make their sales. High-end wines sell to a few people in many markets. And the high dollar price point pays for the wine to get where it is wanted.
Some cider producers have captured a minimum variable audience needed to support their cider business by tapping into this early market. These cider producers are good at sales and marketing. They have great tastings rooms, they have an online presence, they have loyal restaurants and independents stores that want them. And this is the key, someone wants them and knows where to get them. And here also is the opportunity.
Where are the cider distributors? Craft beer broke into the market as a concept when distributors that only sold craft beer came into being. These then small craft beer distributors grew with the craft beer brands they represented. Replace craft beer with fine wine and the same is true. This goes back to the market (and maybe the industry) not seeing Cider as diverse and legitimate. If there was a there there, some fool would take Cider on and start to distribute it. That fool would either make it and their distributorship would grow as the brands they represent grows. Or they would not. But for most ciders, a beer distributor will not as they are focused on beer. For the market to mature in your area and for someone who wants Cider to find it, there need to be small local cider distributors doing that work.
Finally, CiderCON and the American Cider Association may meet some of the needs of these small but many cider producers. But most of the needs of these smaller cider producers would be better served through state and local groups organized to promote the unique set of benefits that their ciders provide. How many state and local Cider organizations are there?
So NO, Andy, I do not think the concept of the difference in the groups (trade groups, guilds, action-groups) is clear to most cider producers because there are still holes in what can be possible based on the opportunities that still exist. If there is truly an opportunity there and cider producers understood it, these groups would exist. And YES I think it is important to clarify what is still possible for Cider.
I only hope I was clear. Thanks for reading.