The Fruit Growers News - December 2002

As an award recipient of grants from the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the USDA, Mike Beck is starting a new tradition at Uncle John’s Cider Mill. Apple wine will be coming to the Lansing, Mich. area farm market next fall. Beck says that the wine will be one more value-added product sold on the farm. He has secured a winemaker to bottle and brew the first year’s product, and is preparing to mix the cider that will be fermented and bottled into apple wine. Beck’s family farm market and cider mill is in St. Johns, Mich. Next fall it will feature an apple wine tasting room. Beck, secured two value-added grants totaling just under $100,000 to provide for the marketing of the new hard cider venture. The bottled apple wine will add to the market’s nearly 300,000 visitors per year, said Beck. He said that on weekends the market might see as many as 10,000 visitors. If neighboring Michigan State University’s Spartans are on the road, the market may see as many as 15,000 visitors in one weekend. The grant will support the company’s legal and marketing efforts in conjunction with the value-added effort. “Eventually, the market will have a wine tasting room where the visitors can watch the wine being made,” Beck said Beck has had the help of many groups including the Michigan Wine Council members, the MDA, the Michigan Cider Makers Guild, the Michigan Apple Committee and many others while researching the effort. He said has had great interest from the state’s wineries, and would encourage other growers to pursue such a venture. “The value-added grants will be available next year as well,” said Beck. “We want to be sure to encourage everyone to apply, because this money can really help an operation with developing new products,” he said. “It is my hope that we will eventually have several of these small hard cider or apple wine rooms around the state,” said Beck. “The more apple wine tasting rooms there are, the more likely the consumer is to know about our products.” Beck anticipates that the product will initially only be sold on the farm. If successful, the product could move on to local markets, but that is more than the farm marketer has time for, right now. Uncle John’s has been in the Beck family for over 120 years. The orchard was established by Frank Beck, (five generations ago) who also grew grapes, raspberries and strawberries. Current owners, John and Carolyn Beck purchased the farm from John’s parents. The farm found its place on the map as a u-pick operation. Mike’s mom, Carolyn, used to sell apples off her front porch step. Today, Mike and his wife, Dede, are the sixth generation on the farm. “We’d say that more than 50% of our business is family based, and we aren’t going to promote this in a way that would offend our customer base,” said Beck. The apple wine product will only add to the destination’s appeal, he said. The first season the beverage will be made in at a southwestern Michigan winery from cider that Beck will press himself. But soon, it will add to the experience marketing side of the venture. If the market’s cider track record is any indication, they should make some great apple wine. As a cider maker at Uncle John’s, Beck won third place honors in the Michigan Apple Cider Contest in December 2001. Uncle John’s won third place in the cider contest in 1999, and second place in 1997. He is involved with the Michigan Cider Maker’s Guild, the Michigan Apple Research Committee, the Michigan State Horticultural Society and is a Michigan Apple Committee board member. Beck takes great pride in his cider making. He has developed and implemented a HAACP plan at Uncle John’s, and helped others develop their plans. “I’ve been running the press since I was big enough, to do so,” said Beck. “That is one job that I always see myself doing.” The Beck’s have also been honored for their farm market. At the 2002 North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association (NAFDMA) convention in Toronto, Ontario, the market was runner-up for the Outstanding Farm Marketer of the Year award. The apple wine will only add to the fresh baked pies, breads, cookies and pastries and fresh cider that the market already offers to the public, said Beck.