The Shepton Mallet company which launched the UK's first craft cider subscription box is experiencing mixed fortunes in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown.

Retail sales of Crafty Nectar's own brand to pubs and restaurants have now come to a grinding halt.

But online sales of subscriptions and cider gift packs have rocketed, enabling the business to keep its head above water.

And, at the same time as weathering the storm, Crafty Nectar founder Ed Calvert is offering a helping hand to small independent cider producers.

Ed told Shepton Mallet Nub News: "Historically, wholesale/trade sales have represented 60 percent of the company's income, so losing this side of the business has had a huge impact.

"However, we are getting three times more traffic to the website than pre-lockdown and many more online orders than we have ever had before - about a 200 per cent increase compared to last year."

Ed is also seeing a change in shopping habits, with more costly products being snapped up in preference to those with a lower price point.

"Before lockdown, our cheapest product - the mini taster box - was our best-seller," he said.

"Now the most popular products are those which are more expensive and the average spend is around £30-plus. I wouldn't say business is booming, but online sales are keep us alive."

Ed is now running the day-to-day business alone, having had to temporarily say goodbye two self-employed members of staff.

"We were a three-person team, now we are down to the bare bones - me," he said.

"I used to do the selling to pubs and restaurants, but now I'm doing the admin as well as packing and sending out boxes to fulfil online orders.

"When the business returns to normal, cider maker Alan and administration assistant Sarah will return."

Ed, who lives in Evercreech, is also supporting small artisan cider producers by providing them with an online shop window - free of charge.

"Some of the smaller makers don't have the means to market themselves to a wide audience and so I wanted to give them a boost by giving them access to our traffic on a zero commission basis," he said.

"The market place on our website https://craftynectar.com/ was launched almost immediately after the Prime Minister made his lockdown announcement and there are around 35 different cider producers listed," he said.

"They upload their products and ship the orders direct to customers' doors, keeping all the profit."

Crafty Nectar has had to postpone its own new product launches planned for later this year.

The company added Crafty Nectar No 9 in February to its two original "craftsourced" ciders - developed with feedback from subscribers - Crafty Nectar No 7 and No 8.