About Northwest Cider Association

OUR VISION

The Pacific Northwest is at the heart of the craft cider movement with a vibrant, collaborative industry where anyone can share in the success and joy of cider.

OUR MISSION

We nurture the community, economy, and ecosystem of a thriving cider culture for our members and consumers by supporting businesses, inspiring quality, and telling the story of Pacific Northwest cider.

The Northwest Cider Association’s Mission is strategically designed to:

• Increase sales of NW Cider
• Increase quality of cider produced in the NW
• Cultivate the NW Cider community

Andrew Byers
Board President

Co-Owner and Head Cidermaker, Finnriver Farm and Cidery

Andrew Byers has been making cider and managing the team of cider makers at Finnriver for 7 years; building a network of small growers, valued team members, and cherished colleagues. His background in the culinary arts has shown in creative cider making as well as dynamic team leadership, and with an academic focus in fungal ecology and botany his understanding of life systems and process systems is in the fore front of his decision making. Before his time at Finnriver Andrew and his family worked with Eve’s Cidery in New York; gathering national perspective of markets and growing regions. Now well settled in Chimacum, Washington, the Byers family is working on being the change they want to see in the world.

Jose Gonzalez
VICE PRESIDENT

CEO, La Familia Cider Company

Jose Gonzalez is the CEO and founder of La Familia Cider, a Salem, Oregon based cider company with infused Mexican flavors and traditions. Jose’s humble origins and family traditions have led him to become a serial entrepreneur in real estate and now beverages industry with a mission to always inspire and assist new generations of Mexican migrants.

Kate Koenig
Secretary

Cidermaker & Co-Owner, Rootwood Cider Co.

Kate grew up in her family’s apple orchards in the hills above Lake Chelan, Washington. After spending fifteen years away, exploring other opportunities, she returned home and teamed up with her family to start Rootwood Cider in 2015. Her family has been growing apples for more than 100 years! Adding some cider apple varieties to the commercial orchards was an important step toward adding diversity to the business and creating a way for her and her sisters to be part of the family apple history. 

SCOTT Katsma
BOArd Member

Quality Research & Development, Seattle Cider Company

Scott was born in Chicago, Illinois but was raised in Boise, Idaho. He began working at Seattle Cider Company in 2014 and became Head Cidermaker in early 2016. In addition to fermentation innovation, Scott’s passions include waste stream management, creative problem solving, market analysis, and industry networking. As we look to the future, Scott is excited to continue to advocate for education and awareness within the region. Not is he a voice for cideries in and around the PNW, but also an experienced resource for start-up cideries throughout the region.

MOLLY LEADBETTER
BOARD MEMBER

Co-owner, Meriwether Cider

Molly is an owner of Meriwether Cider as well as the social media and marketing manager.

Originally from Colorado, Molly has enjoyed a variety of life experiences, including moving to Idaho, attending the College of Idaho, working as a wildland firefighter rappelling out of helicopters, traveling the world, and then meeting the love of her life a hairy 25lbs Mini Goldendoodle named Luna.

Her favorite Meriwether cider is Heritage Crab Apple.

Y. Dave KLAWER
BOARD MEMBER

Co-owner, Alma Cider

Dave Klawer is a cidermaker, orchardist, Certified Pommelier™️, cider advocate, educator, and enthusiast. Dave’s desire to spend more time outdoors, his interest in growing tree fruit, and his joy of fermentation led him to pursue a Master’s Degree in Agriculture. His dream is to grow and supply Northwest cidermakers with world class cider fruit, and high quality fresh pressed juice. When Dave is not focused on cider, he spends time with his wife and kids, and he continues to work his 20-year career as a registered nurse.

Dave and his wife Heather co-founded  Bitters & Sharps. A family owned wholesale nursery and orchard management company located in the beautiful Skagit Valley of Northwest Washington. Bitters & Sharps specializes in and consults on cider fruit production, custom grafting, orchard design, and orchard planning. 

Dave’s ambitions are driven by his desire to craft the best possible cider and perry products. He believes knowledge sharing and collaboration within the cider community is essential to elevating Northwest ciders and the cider category in general.

DANELLE KRONMELLEr
BOARD MEMBER

Marketing Director, 2 Towns Ciderhouse

Danelle is a highly strategic and analytical leader with 20 years professional experience in developing, executing, and scaling B2B and B2C marketing and business development initiatives. A native Oregonian, Danelle began her career launching Silicon Valley based technology companies in California. After receiving her MBA from University of Washington, Danelle moved to Iowa to work as a marketing executive for Fortune 200 company, Principal Financial Group, where she managed teams responsible for creating marketing strategies that reached 5M people and generated half a billion dollars in annual revenue. Once back in Oregon, Danelle forged multiple corporate partnerships at Oregon State University working for the College of Business before landing at 2 Towns Ciderhouse. At 2 Towns, Danelle manages a team responsible for developing growth strategies for the entire brand portfolio, including launching new brand categories, Craftwell Cocktails, and TeaREX Killer Tea, as well as new cider innovations such as The Baddie, a product benefiting women in fermentation sciences.

SheRYL WUDUNN
BOARD MEMBER

Co-owner, Kristof Farms

With the rest of the Kristof family, Sheryl was thrown into the cider world when we planted cider apple trees in place of a failed cherry orchard. With lots of help from some amazing cidermakers along the way, Kristof Farms has released three delicious varieties of Kristof Farms ciders, plus pet-nats, and launched Kristof Wine in early 2024. 

Sheryl has spent most of her career in cider-irrelevant endeavors: She co-founded FullSky Partners to advise young double-bottom line companies. She was lucky enough to become the first Asian-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize and a best-selling author. Along with her husband, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof, she wrote Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope, about the great challenges and opportunities for America’s working class, and four other bestsellers, including Half the Sky.

Her experience on Wall Street and journalism may come in handy someday but maybe most useful to NW Cider Association Board of Directors is her board experience: Harvard’s Board of Overseers, and the boards at BayFirst Financial Corp., The Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Malcolm Wiener Center of Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and her former Trustee positions at Princeton and Cornell Universities.

LYNDSAY DYK
BOARD MEMBER

Founder & Principal, Field Day PR

Lyndsay Dyk is the founder of Field Day PR, a Portland-based public relations studio launched in 2022. Born and raised in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Lyndsay grew up immersed in the legends and landscapes of the American West. Since then she has pursued her passion for storytelling, foodways, and hospitality from Seattle to New York to Portland. After working for the dynamic boutique PR agency Little Green Pickle, Lyndsay founded Field Day to address the unique earned media needs of food and beverage artisans with deep connections to the land, their community, and their mission. For clients like these, Lyndsay and her team craft careful, compelling media strategies that foster authentic media relationships and brand sustainability. Lyndsay holds a WSET Level 2 in Wine with Merit.

Molly Crandles
BOARD MEMBER

Senior Cidermaker, Seacider Farm & Ciderhouse

Molly Crandles is the Senior Cider Maker at Sea Cider Farm and Ciderhouse on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.  Coming from a winemaking background, Molly has a BSc in Chemistry and an MSc in Oenology and Viticulture. She has worked for wineries around the world, including in Australia, Germany, New York State, Ontario, and British Columbia. Early in her career she developed an interest in cider making alongside winemaking. She first made cider at Maverick Estate Winery in the Okanagan Valley, and is happy to have landed at Sea Cider in early 2024 to continue this passion full time.  She has experience in sensory science, beverage research and development, and education.  Having worked at large and small businesses, she enjoys keeping up with all aspects of the Canadian beverage industry, and advocates for community support of hand crafted, terroir-driven premium wines and ciders.

Emily ritchie
Executive Director

Emily Ritchie is the Executive Director, nurturing the community, economy, and ecosystem of a thriving cider culture. NWCA has 3 specific goals to achieve our mission: a) Promote NW cider to increase demand, b) Empower cidery members and c) Encourage, provide training and support NW cideries’ production of high quality cider. Emily is the visionary that gets us there through strategy and hard work. Through Emily’s efforts, NWCA envisions the Pacific Northwest is at the heart of the craft cider movement with a vibrant, collaborative industry where anyone can share in the success and joy of cider. Before this, she worked for the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Marketing Department managing the FoodCorps program. In her free time she loves to swing dance and loves the feeling of soil beneath her fingernails while tending her vegetable garden. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their two fave cats Jake and Elwood, the Blues Brothers.

Emily’s email is emily[at]nwcider.com

LAURA KENNEDY
MEMBERSHIP & COMMUNICATIONS Manager

Laura Kennedy is the Membership and Communications Manager for the Northwest Cider Association, where she fosters a thriving cider community by connecting members, sharing industry resources, and amplifying the stories of Pacific Northwest cider via the NW Cider social media channels. She leads membership engagement, communications strategy, and content creation, ensuring cidermakers, orchardists, and industry partners have the support they need to grow and succeed.

Laura brings an entrepreneurial background, marketing expertise, and a deep appreciation for cider to her role. Before joining NWCA, she owned and operated a certified organic herb farm and herbal apothecary near Portland. Her love for the PNW extends beyond cider; she can often be found camping or foraging for mushrooms.

Laura’s email is info[at]nwcider.com

Jana Daisy-Ensign
Marketing Director

Jana is a respected industry leader with nearly two decades of experience in the craft beverage category. A sales professional, she has championed farmers, orchardists and artisan makers, bringing their stories and products to market. Jana currently oversees NWCA programs to build demand for NW cider. She serves as Co-Director of NW Cider Cup, the region’s most prestigious cider competition. A seasoned cider judge and judge trainer, Certified Pommelier™, founding member of Pomme Boots Society and published category writer, Jana brings insightful expertise and creative innovation to her work. A passionate community builder, Jana was the inaugural recipient of the NW Cider Leadership Award in 2019.

Jana’s email is janad[at]nwcider.com

MICHELLE MARKESTEYN, PHD
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTor

Michelle supports grant writing, grant management, and strategic planning. Michelle is new to the cider community and brings fresh eyes to the association’s work to communicate the story of Northwest cider broadly. Michelle lives on a 4 acre farm in the Willamette Valley with her 2 growing boys, and her favorite vegetable to grow is an eggplant.

Michelle’s email is michellemarkesteyn[at]nwcider.com

EMILY BECKER
PROGrAM MANAGER

Emily Becker is a project management and event consultant who has supported NWCA’s programs since 2018. Each year, Emily coordinates the Northwest Cider Symposium & Trade Show and co-directs the NW Cider Cup. She also supports other programs as well as managing grants and sponsorships. Emily works with a variety of beverage and food system focused nonprofits bringing together diverse stakeholders to learn from each other, share best practices, collaboratively seek solutions, and celebrate together. In the cider world, she also helps behind the scenes with CiderCon. Outside of work, Emily serves on the board of the Portland Fruit Tree Project, plays in the forest, experiments in the kitchen, and ferments cider from gleaned fruit. 

Emily’s email is emilybecker[at]nwcider.com