Do you see cider vinegars at all prices and wonder about the differences that may exist? Archie tells you all about the price difference between supermarket cider vinegar and premium cider vinegar.
“But why do you buy your cider vinegar for 15 bucks???”
“I love you, but when someone asks me this question about the price of my vinegar, I don’t know what to answer! »
So already, we love you too. And that’s why we’re here to prepare you for this question about the price at which you buy your Archie cider vinegar. This breaks our hearts because it means that the image of cider vinegar has really been mistreated in recent years, but hey it's true: this question is legitimate! Why would we pay more for a product that can be found for 3 euros in supermarkets? “And it’s organic too!” »
So we're going to go back to the basics & we're going to play it totally transparent.
So these are some of the reasons why your Archie looks so different.
Its manufacture
Supermarket cider vinegar is a product resulting from a simple desire of manufacturers: to obtain a pretty translucent yellow or orange product, sexy for the consumer, in massive quantities. As for where the apples come from? Total opacity, even in organic. The taste is not there either. The apples selected for vinegar are traditionally the least expensive aka “the bottom of the can apples”. We are not quite on the same issues at Archie. Also, you should know that a well-produced cider vinegar undergoes more steps than a traditional cider, for example. First there is the transformation of apple juice into cider, then the transformation of the alcohol in the cider into acetic acid to turn it into vinegar. It is therefore already a little illogical to find a vinegar cheaper than a cider. But manufacturers obtain in 24 hours what arche obtains in several months. Nice for the performance, less for the quality.
Quantity available
A year without apples in our orchards, no Archie cider vinegar and we only have one harvest per year.
Do not count on us to supply to neighboring areas or Spain.
In a very mathematical way, the scarcity of our apples to supply our vinegar makes production more restrictive and therefore the price more expensive.
Its conditioning
French apples, by the bottle. We cannot imagine treating our vinegar, a treasure trove of benefits, less well than an ultra-processed alcohol so we take care of it. Our cap is made of unvarnished wood from Italy and our labels are standardized and we work with a French printer. As for our glassmaker, also French, he supplies the largest spirits houses.
To reduce costs, we could purchase plastic bottles or pallets made in China. Believe us, the logistics would be simpler (yes yes) and we would drastically reduce costs... but that is not planned.
Organic by conviction
Ok there is organic and organic, we repeat it often. Obviously your Archie comes from organic farming but despite everything it is important to know that all organic products are not necessarily qualitative and produced in the same way. Organic out of conviction, not out of marketing opportunism… believe us, the difference is big. Archie comes from a single bocage and is produced in agroecology where animal farms and apple trees are all organically farmed. The fertilizer from the animals enriching the orchards is therefore not polluted with a substance that we all like to do without.
Human size
No large ultra high tech farms behind our archie, just the same small independent producers with whom we work, whom we pay at the fairest price, without discussion. Did you know that 200 farms disappear every week in France? Yes 200 for the benefit of repurchase for expansions of ever larger farms, considerably modifying the French agricultural landscape. Campaigning to preserve the know-how and independence of producers also involves paying a fair price.
Nutritional richness
Archie's driving idea: to obtain the most interesting cider vinegar from a nutritional point of view. Its apples have been selected for their richness in polyphenols and its manufacturing method (which allows us to offer you a vinegar “with its mother”) guarantees this. Your archie vinegar is a living product and retains all the nutritional values of the good products of yesteryear.
Its taste qualities
In terms of taste, your archie has been recognized by several distinctions (2021 Epicure d'or prize in particular) and is used by the biggest names in French gastronomy (hello Anne Sophie Pic, Yannick Alléno, David Gallienne, Claire Vallée, Fabrice Desvignes for the kitchens of the Elysée…). Most of our customers take our archie as a cure and drink it diluted in water. It is certain that if the taste was equivalent to the cider vinegars available in supermarkets, we would no longer exist, let's be honest.
Sometimes, a little test is better than 1000 words so if you are not up to justifying yourself and letting your interlocutor arrive at their conclusion will allow you to relieve yourself of any argument.
We started with the message received from Capucine, we will leave the final words to Jonathan, another of our clients:
“I wouldn’t dare make a comparison with those in mass distribution.
After all, you can't compare a grand cru with piquette ! »
Everyone is free to go for the most economical option and fortunately different offers exist but it is always important and justified to remember why we choose to consume differently.
Kisses, take care of yourself, kisses.
PS: & if despite everything, your loved ones don't give up, tell them that your vinegar doesn't even cost 15 bucks!
