This thesis analyzes data from seven Swedish craft cider entrepreneurs to examine how they respond to challenges within the entrepreneurial contexts–institutional, business, social, and spatial–defined by Welter. Thematic analysis is used to identify the major challenges within each context and then Bourdieusian capital theory is employed to analyze how these artisan entrepreneurs use, convert, and combine capitals to overcome obstacles. Findings reveal that two major challenges are present within the various contexts–cider’s symbolic deficit in Sweden and the formation of a Swedish craft cider community and industry. In the face of these challenges Swedish craft cidermakers demonstrate creativity in using and converting non-economic capitals–social capital in particular.

This study is based on consumers' perceptions of two different types of cider. Cider can be produced from apples or pears and is enjoyed by consumers, but the differences in tasteprofile and production are drastic. The types of cider in this study are referred to as traditional artisanal cider, which contains 95% apple or pear juice, and industrially flavored cider, which contains 15% fruit concentrate. Despite these differences, both fall under the same official definition according to the Swedish food Agency and are included in the same cider category at the retail monopoly of alcohol beverages in Sweden, called Systembolaget. This contributes to the formulation of the study's problem. The problem is that consumers lack knowledge about traditional artisanal cider, leading them to choose industrially flavored cider instead.The sustainability of the latter can be questioned due to the long transport distances of fruit concentrate from abroad. The study aims to investigate what consumers appreciate in the different types of cider and what would be required for them to choose traditional artisanal cider more frequently. Information about consumers' cider preferences was collected through a survey distributed on social media. The results show, among other things, that the respondents have interest in traditional craft cider. However, respondents feel they lack knowledge about this type of cider and therefore buy industrially flavored cider more frequently. This also affects the sales of traditional artisanal cider, as Systembolaget bases its sales on consumer demand, which is higher for industrially flavored cider. The study's results also show significant differences in cider preferences correlated with age and place of residence. There is also a significant correlation between the pricing of traditional artisanal cider and both age and place of residence. The conclusion drawn from the study is that the majority choose to drink industrially flavored cider, but there is interest in drinking traditional artisanal cider, especially if the two types of cider were priced the same.