Red Rover Craft Cider

Without Impact and Ignite Fredericton, Red Rover wouldn’t exist. It’s pretty much as simple as that. They were the ones that validated our idea at the beginning and gave us the confidence to really push forwards into uncharted territory, and then gave us the financial support and the moral and every type of support you can imagine and really pushed us ahead to make the business the way it is today, not just from Day One, but all the way through.

When we first came up with this business idea, we really didn’t know how to validate it and one of the very first meetings we had was with Ignite Fredericton. And we sat down in front of one of their support officers and we said what we were doing. We explained it through and we were figuring that he would probably turn around and say, “Yeah, this doesn’t make sense.” And, in reality, it was probably one of the most impartial pieces of advice that we’ve ever had. He really said, “Go for it, and this is how we can support you.” And at that point, it went from being a crazy idea to being something that could change our lives. And that one meeting at Ignite Fredericton changed our lives forever.

Because we were in an untested market, getting bank-related financing for this industry was challenging. That’s where our Impact loan actually came in to buy our first year’s worth of crop. And what Impact gave us was the ability to really push forward on a slightly more risky venture but what has turned into an incredibly fruitful industry. Pun intended.

When it came to actually expanding and working on different aspect of the business that we weren’t traditionally familiar with, Ignite Fredericton could show us the way forward. And as we have now gone into the point where we’re starting to export, we have actually been involved with their Export Igniter Program, where they’re now training us up to the next level. So it isn’t really just a place where you go and start. It’s a company and funding organization that supports you all the way from pre-inception of the business all the way through to today. They’re always there to help with the little intricacies that you can’t really get anywhere else.