Ben Ritsema and his twin brother Dan

No sibling rivalry in this alumni business

Working with family is popular in the UK and family run firms make up 88% of the UK’s businesses. They’re not all spread across the generations either, many, like Cranes Drinks, have been founded by siblings with a shared passion.

Cranes was started in 2012 by Exeter alumnus Ben Ritsema (Business and Management, 2012) and his identical twin brother Dan. They produce three different flavoured ciders and have just started to be sold nationally in Asda supermarkets.

It was West Country life that helped inspire the business. Ben says: “The inspiration for the cider came to me while at Exeter with the abundance of different ciders on offer and to try. The idea to start Cranes Drinks actually came to me while in my final year.”

Twin brother Dan had the idea of using cranberries in the first cider recipe and the pair have found working together to be a huge positive. “We are both on the same wave length so we are productive and get things done.” says Ben. “We can also be brutally honest with each other, which maybe can be seen as a positive and a negative, but everything is forgive and forgotten in the next sentence.

“We have big plans for the future, we are striving to break into all the major supermarkets. And as our market share grows in the UK we will then likely look to take on other markets.”

Date: 25 October 2018