A west Cork craft cider maker, Nohoval Drinks Company, has secured a five-year French supply contract through a local unit of Carlserg. Nohoval, set up by husband and wife Daniel and Géraldine Emerson in 2010, will supply their premium Finnbarra Dry Irish Craft Cider throughout France through Carlsberg's House of Beer subsidiary. Finnbarra is known as Stonewell Cider in Ireland.

The company will see the total volume of cider ordered by House of Beer in the first three years of the contract equal the total 2015 output of Finnbarra last year. A spokesman for Nohoval declined to quantity or financial details of the contract, which is its largest to date.

While the Irish cider market remains dominated by C&C’s Bulmers, a number of craft manufacturers have cropped up in recent numbers and are estimated to have 2-4 per cent market share.

Although cider was one of the most popular beverages in France at the beginning of the 20th century, the destruction of many Normandy orchards during the second World War, along with a lack of government support for the industry, saw the market subsequently decline, according to market research group Canadean.

"The French market is cornered between Brittany farmhouse and overseas industrial ciders," said Arthur Lenormand, House of Beer's marketing director. "As with the micro beer sector . . . we are convinced that there is a latent demand among French consumers for a new taste experience which will change their patterns of consumption."

Géraldine Emerson is from a French wine-making family in the Orleanais region. It was her father who inspired the couple to become more traditional cider-makers.

Finnbarra will be distributed in both on- and off-trade outlets across France, with demand initially expected to come from the holiday market and Irish-themed bars throughout France.