The American Cider Association (ACA) has announced the recipients of their annual Cider Excellence Awards at CiderCon 2024 in Portland, honoring individuals, businesses, and organizations from around the country for their achievements in, and contributions to, the U.S. hard cider industry.
The highest honors given each year are the awards for “Significant Impact on the Cider Industry,” which this year went to Emily Ritchie of Northwest Cider Association for her admirable work promoting the cider industry for the Northwest region (OR, WA, ID, MT & British Columbia), and Brighid O’Keane of Cider Institute of North America for her global efforts to provide rigorous education on quality cider production.
In addition, US Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon was awarded the “Apple Advocate Award” for his enduring commitment to level the playing field for cideries through legislation, as well as orchardist Jake Mann for his ongoing partnership with the cider community through his historic family ranch in California, Five Mile Orchard. “Member of the Year” awards were given to both Seattle Cider of Washington and Ploughman Cider of Pennsylvania for their ongoing efforts to give back to their communities and the cider industry.
Now in its 9th year, the Cider Excellence Awards were held on January 18th, 2024 at CiderCon, the ACA’s annual conference, which took place this year in Portland, Oregon from January 17 – January 19, 2024.
More on the award winners here.