Key Deal Facts
Hardball Cider has a collection of year-round and rotational craft ciders, and has amassed a loyal fanbase at the local and regional level. We have the expertise to scale and continue to pursue additional, incremental markets as we push Hardball Cider towards becoming a national brand.
According to the American Cider Association, consumers in the U.S. are drinking 10 times more cider than they were a decade ago. The North American market is expected to be worth $4.6B by 2026 – increasing at a CAGR of over 10% – and small craft brands are fast becoming the focal point of this movement. In early 2022, the regional cider category grew to 51% – up from 29% in 2018.*
All Hardball Cider products are uniquely handcrafted on-site at the company’s Pennsylvania century farm, which has been family-owned and operated for five generations. The Deen family first began planting apple trees and pressing cider in 1934, building a foundation on tradition and quality in our craft beverages.
Management Team / Advisory Board Bios
Geoffrey T. DeenCEO/Founder, 5th GenerationGeoff has been making hard cider for nearly a decade on his 5-generation family farm. Before turning full-time cidermaker, Geoff spent almost 15 years in the telecom industry in various marketing and supply chain roles launching many of the most popular smartphones and managing a team responsible for over $1B of inventory. Today, as the founder and head cidermaker, Geoff is mainly responsible for day to day operations, sales, and customer relationship management. His team, including girlfriend Kari (Head of Marketing), all play significant roles in the operational activities such as fruit processing, fermentation, and packaging, as well as sales and marketing roles such as social media management, taproom brand ambassadors, and festival team members. It takes the entire team working together to make every flavor of Hardball Cider a high-quality and differentiated player in the rapidly growing hard cider segment. Grown. Pressed. Hardened. Ciders that swing for the fence!
Kari PainterHead of Marketing and EventsKari started with Hardball Cider in 2019 helping to give Hardball a marketing facelift through a new website, social media, and photography. She plans all of Hardball Cider’s events throughout the year – both onsite and offsite, manages all marketing channels with a keen focus on social media to promote, cultivate and grow a loyal customer base. Additionally, Kari is not afraid to get her hands dirty with apple pressing, fermentation operations, and packaging. Her favorite cider is Riding the Pine[apple] with coconut and favorite reason to work for Hardball is seeing the reactions on her customer’s faces when they try our ciders for the first time., Todd G. DeenHead of Growing Operations, 4th GenerationFor the past 5+ decades, Todd has grown fruits and vegetables as well as pressed fresh cider on the family farm for his retail and wholesale markets. With son, Geoffrey, launching the Hardball Cider brand in recent years, Todd has moved his focus to oversee and manage the orchard operations - growing the highest quality fruit for both fresh and hard cider. Todd has extensive experience in large and small orchard production managing everything from root stock selection, training systems and pruning techniques to site selection, disease management, crop yield and harvesting.
Todd is the person responsible for the idea behind one of the first three ciders that Hardball Cider ever developed - Splitter. He suggested that Geoff take some Fastball (dry hard cider) and mix it with some of their fresh apple cider and so the perfect split between dry and sweet was crafted!
In his spare time, Todd enjoys the performing arts and is an accomplished pianist and musical director for regional and local theater productions.