Strongbow Dark Fruit Cider is Vegan Friendly

Company email (March 2020)

"I can confirm Strongbow Rose is suitable for Vegans/Vegetarians."

From their website (https://uk.strongbow.com/faq, retrieved November 2019)
"Strongbow Original is not made using animal derived products however there is a possibility of carryover from some of our ciders that are. Strongbow Dark Fruit and Cloudy Apple are both suitable for vegetarian/vegans."

Company email (June 2019)
"I can confirm all of our ciders are suitable for vegans and vegetarians with the exception of Strongbow Original and Strongbow Woodpecker."

Company email (July 2018)
"Strongbow Original is not suitable for vegans/vegetarians as it contains cochineal. However I can confirm Strongbow Dark Fruit is suitable for vegans/vegetarians."

Company email (January 2017)
"We have recently conducted a full review of our ciders in terms of their vegan and vegetarian status, and in particular we have confirmed the status of the various flavourings and fruit juices that are used in our ciders. The table below shows which of our Strongbow ciders are suitable for vegans, and which are not. As you can see, Strongbow Dark Fruit is not suitable for vegans, not because there are any animal-derived ingredients, but due to the method of manufacture of the juices/flavourings that are present in Dark Fruits. You will also see that we do not claim that Strongbow Original is suitable for vegans. This is because the method of making Strongbow Original means there is a relatively high likelihood that there could be some cochineal in it, albeit that we do not deliberately add it to the cider. Regarding those ciders which we say are suitable for vegans, as I think we have previously advised, we can’t guarantee that very small amounts of ciders that are not vegan don’t get into ciders that are otherwise vegan. If this is the case it is in very small amounts, and you have previously advised that such crossover wouldn’t prevent us from stating that the ciders are suitable for vegans.

I hope this helps, and we would be pleased to provide similar information for our other ciders if that would be of use.

Original [not vegan] Due to likelihood of crossover of non-vegan ingredients from other ciders
Pear [vegan]
Dark Fruit [not vegan] Due to method of manufacture of juice/flavourings
Citrus Edge [vegan]
Cloudy Apple [vegan]"

Company email (April 2014):
"HEINEKEN in the UK can confirm while the majority of our ciders do not have any animal derived ingredients there is a possibility of carryover from some of our ciders that do, therefore we do not claim that any of our ciders are vegetarian/vegan."

Company email (January 2013):
"While the majority of our ciders including Strongbow Pear do not have any animal derived ingredients there is a possibility of carryover from some of our ciders that do, therefore we do not claim that any of our ciders are vegetarian.
Strongbow Pear is currently only produced by Heineken UK."

Company email (October 2012):
"With regards to our ciders, two of our products, Bulmers Original and Jacques use an animal product as a colouring material. Our other ciders including Strongbow do not use any animal products as ingredients. However some of our processes mean that very small amounts of these two ciders may come in contact with our other ciders, and as such we can't guarantee that any of our ciders are suitable for vegetarians."

Company email (September 2012):
While the majority of our ciders including Strongbow do not have any animal derived ingredients (Cochineal) there is a possibility of carryover from some of our ciders that do, therefore we do not claim that any of our ciders are vegetarian.

Company website (June 2012):
on their own website, under FAQs Strongbow states that it's cider is not suitable for vegetarians:
http://www.strongbow.com/Faq.aspx

Company email (June 2012):
"I can confirm that one of the components of an ingredient used in the recipe for Bulmers/Magners Original cider is derived from an animal source, therefore Bulmers/Magners Original has been classified as not suitable for vegetarians." "this is the case for all Bulmers and the Magners special range."

Barnivore note: it looks like the core Strongbow products are vegan, but the company won't commit to it (it's a "may contain" thing) - here's the details we have:

From the FAQ (December 2011):
"Is Strongbow suitable for Vegetarians?
Afraid not."

And then Liam asked "So when it says on the Strongbow website, they aren’t suitable for vegetarians, it simply means they’re produced in an area where non-vegetarian drinks are made?"

And then Strongbow replied "Yes that is correct and as such we can't guarantee that any of our ciders are suitable for vegetarians."

Company email (October 2011):
"With regards to our ciders, two of our products, Bulmers Original and Jacques use an animal product as a colouring material."

Company email:
"With regards to our ciders, two of our products, Bulmers Original and Jacques use an animal product as a colouring material. Our other ciders do not use any animal products as ingredients. However some of our processes mean that very small amounts of these ciders may come in contact with our other ciders, and as such we can't guarantee that any of our ciders are suitable for vegetarians."

Company email:
"I can confirm that Strongbow is not suitable for vegan/vegetarians as we use an animal product as a colouring material."

Company email: 2006
"Strongbow and Strongbow Super are suitable for vegetarians, however,Strongbow Sirrus and Strongbow Jacques are not. "