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East Bower Cider Co. ups production via a new canning line.
East Bower Cider Company is upping its game—tenfold. The Triangle’s only cidery is expanding its footprint via a new production facility on the Larry’s Coffee campus, outfitted with tanks and a canning line to dramatically boost output and allow cider sales across the Triangle.
The expansion was a long time coming, co-founder Oliver Koch tells RM. “A lot of breweries start way too big, so we wanted to start our brand smaller, build it up and make sure there was a demand,” he adds. “Within the first six months, we were like, ‘Oh, we started too small.’”
After quickly exceeding sales expectations, the cidery sought out a way to grow—but finding warehouse-size space in Raleigh proper can be a time-consuming venture. With a stroke of luck—and a connection to the local coffee brand—East Bower secured the space after about a year and a half of looking.
As of now, there are no plans to make the new production facility public-facing, notes Koch, but the original locale at East End Market will see an expanded community gathering space, both for private events and patio spillover. While the canning facility is complete—and will be up and running in about two months—updates to the original spot are still a month out.
Besides its current facility, the only place East Bower sells cans today are at Trophy Brewing locations—but with “quadrupled” capabilities, prepare to see its RTDs popping up across the Triangle at bottle shops and bars. Despite the upped production power, grocery store sales may still be a ways off.
No matter the growth, the local cider company just wants to do what it does best: “We want to be good,” says Koch, “and we want people to be proud when they drink a cider that is actually from Raleigh.”
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