Pagan Cider lose 36,000 litres worth of juice to bushfires

UPDATED: More than 36,000 litres of cider by a Tassie producer has been withheld from export to China.

THIS year’s harvest of cherries and blueberries used in Cygnet-based Pagan Cider were found to be tainted by the smoke of the summer’s bushfires in the Huon Valley, affecting 36,000 litres of their stock.

Co-owner Harry Moses said the business had to hold off its shipment planned for Hong Kong in order to continue supply to its local and more longstanding customers.

Mr Moses said they were unaware at the time if the smoke would have an effect.

“We were pressing [the cherries] while the fires and the smoke were at their worst,” he said.

“The only way to find out [if they were tainted] was to send the juice to the lab in Hobart and to ferment it.

“The fermented one made it pretty obvious, if you pour the juice you basically got an ashtray.”

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Pagan Cider co-owner Harry Moses said 36,000 litres of smoke-tainted juice had forced the company to halt the planned export of their product to Hong Kong. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Mr Moses said the 36,000 litres of juice that had been pressed was worth about $1 million.

The business is looking for alternative ways to use the juice. Mr Moses said any potential health impacts need to be investigated.

“The focus is what we can do with this product between now and the next cherry season and then we’ll have to make the decision whether or not to dump it,” he said.

He said the second batch of harvested fruits that were found not to be so tainted by the smoke had been tasted by some customers at the cellar door in Cygnet who said the slightly smokey flavour was enjoyable.

Simple Cider, based in Franklin, said 30 per cent of its cherries used were also tainted by the smoke.

But co-owner Patrick Meagher said due to their smaller size they weren’t as affected by the bushfires.

“We were able to find some alternate suppliers to help us get across the line,” Mr Meagher said.

“It ended up being OK for us. I think in part because we’re a lot smaller than Pagan.”

Pagan Cider harvests its fruit a year ahead of product sale.

Mr Moses said the company has enough supply for now.

“We’ve lost our buffer, and we won’t be able to rebuild that buffer until the next cherry season,” he said.

Pagan Cider has had stockists in Singapore for about five years and has more recently been exporting to Taiwan and Thailand.

“We’re in more bars in Bangkok than we are in Hobart,” Mr Moses said.

With a growing market overseas, the business recently planned to supply Hong Kong, but that move has now been put off for at least a year because of the affects of the bushfires.

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