When asked why he started making cider Justin Heilenbach, President of Citizen Cider, aside from being inspired by food writer Michael Pollan put it this way; "cider was the original farm-to-table American beverage for over 300 years and it seemed as if it just went away. Where did it go? Well we rediscovered it, and so my two partners and I decided to make it the way it was first made. Pure, without artificial ingredients, made with apples from local farms.”

Justin stopped by the Grossman School of Business to spend the morning with Assistant Professor Allison Kingley's undergraduate business classes.

As well as explaining why he got into the cider business, Justin spoke in-depth about the many facets of their Vermont based operation from the intricacies of distribution, logistics, marketing, consumption trends, financing, to how many gallons of cider can be pressed from a bushel of apples (it depends), as well as their relationship to food systems and their suppliers; the farmers of Vermont. Whom they are proud to support.

After sharing pricing and costing models, Justin emphasized they’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way but ultimately “if you have a good idea for a business it becomes pretty clear early on that you have one, and the same goes for if it turns out to be a bad idea,” he said, but “focus on doing.”

Justin noted the tremendous encouragement and support they have received from the burgeoning Vermont entrepreneurial incubation ecosystem, “it just seems like everybody here cares.”

From all of us at the UVM Grossman School of Business, thank you Justin for taking the time out of your busy schedule to visit with us today.