From Orchard to Automation: Made in the South West Members Visit Thatchers Cider

Made in the South West members recently visited Thatchers Cider at Myrtle Farm in Sandford, Somerset, for a behind-the-scenes look at one of the region’s most recognised family manufacturing businesses.

The visit brought members together to explore wider manufacturing themes, from supply chains, engineering and automation to apprenticeships, skills and regional collaboration.

With attendees representing different areas of manufacturing and industrial support, the tour became more than a site visit. It created a shared learning experience and opened up conversations between businesses facing many of the same opportunities and pressures.

Following the tour, members took part in a networking and tasting session at The Railway Inn, where conversations continued over a selection of Thatchers ciders. The session gave attendees time to reflect on what they had seen, compare perspectives and build connections across the Made in the South West network.

A Multi-Generational Manufacturing Story

Best known nationally for its cider, Thatchers also stands as a powerful example of South West manufacturing.

The Thatcher family has made cider at Myrtle Farm since 1904, and generations of the family have shaped the company’s development. That sense of continuity ran through the visit. Members saw a business that honours its heritage while continuing to evolve, invest and scale from its Somerset home.

Thatchers is not simply a heritage brand. It is a family manufacturing business that has grown from traditional cider-making roots into a modern production operation, while retaining a deep connection to its orchards, its place and its family identity.

A Business Growing at Scale

The visit came at a time of continued growth for Thatchers, with publicly reported figures showing just how far the family business has come.

In 2018, reported turnover stood at £99.2m. By the year to 31 August 2024 - its 120th anniversary year - Thatchers had passed £200m in sales for the first time in its history, reaching £203.9m. The latest reported accounts show turnover rising again to £214.1m for the year to 31 August 2025.

For members, those figures added context to what they saw on site: a family-owned Somerset manufacturer that has more than doubled in size since 2018, while continuing to invest in the production capability, infrastructure and people needed to support that growth.

It is a success story rooted in place, but driven by ambition, long-term thinking and manufacturing discipline.

Seeing the Process First-Hand

The tour gave members a closer look at the journey from orchard to finished product, following the process through pressing, fermentation, packaging, storage and distribution.

For many attendees, the visit revealed the level of complexity behind a product people often encounter simply as a bottle, can or pint. Behind that finished drink sits a highly developed manufacturing operation focused on consistency, quality control, efficiency and long-term planning.

Members saw how Thatchers combines traditional cider-making knowledge with modern production systems, allowing the business to maintain quality at scale while responding to changing demand.

Raising the Bar Through Investment

One of the most striking aspects of the visit was the level of investment visible across the site.

Members saw how Thatchers continues to upgrade its facilities, from modern production and packaging systems through to highly automated warehousing and distribution infrastructure. The scale of the operation demonstrated the kind of long-term investment required to support a growing national brand while keeping production rooted in Somerset.

For Made in the South West members, this brought the visit firmly into the world of manufacturing strategy: investing ahead of demand, strengthening infrastructure, improving process control and building the capability needed for future growth.

As the tour guide put it during the visit: “You’ve got to be looking at innovation.”

That line captured much of what members saw on the day. Thatchers is a business shaped by tradition, but not constrained by it. Historic cider-making knowledge still matters, but it now sits alongside advanced equipment, automation and a site designed to support scale.

Sustainability in the Process

The visit also highlighted how Thatchers builds sustainability into the production process.

Members heard about the reuse of apple by-products, systems designed to improve resource efficiency and the wider role of investment in reducing waste across the site.

Rather than treating sustainability as a separate initiative, the business links it closely with operational efficiency, resilience and future planning. For the visiting members, this connection between sustainability and productivity showed how environmental improvements can also support better processes, smarter use of resources and a stronger manufacturing operation.

Rooted in Place, Built for the Future

The visit highlighted the depth and diversity of manufacturing in the South West.

Thatchers Cider may be known as a consumer brand, but behind it operates a serious manufacturing business - rooted in Somerset, shaped by family ownership and strengthened by continuous investment.

From William Thatcher’s first cider making at Myrtle Farm in 1904 to the modern automated systems members saw during the tour, the business shows how legacy and innovation can work together.

It is a story of orchards, engineering, process, people and place - and a fitting example of the ambition that continues to define South West manufacturing.