'They look like they've come from another planet, but they are some of the nicest people in the world,' says Mills on the music fans he met at the metal-oriented event Download.
All this supports a 拢4m music marketing programme which links Gaymers to most of the summer's major festivals. It is the official cider of Glastonbury and is running brand experience zones at The O2 Wireless Festival, Rock Ness and Lovebox Weekender. It also has pouring rights at a number of events, including the Reading and Leeds festivals, and ties with indoor gigs, as Mills has negotiated an exclusive deal with Live Nation venues including London's Astoria, Manchester's Apollo and the Barfly chain.
In May, Gaymers also launched a programme of Grassroots Gigs, at which hip indie bands including The Futureheads and Young Knives returned to their home towns to perform exclusive gigs to small crowds in intimate venues. Tickets were available to consumers only via competitions and online through the brand's dedicated music website, gaymersmusic.com.
Mills is an intense character who exudes passion for his cider brands. 'It's a fantastic liquid. If people taste it, they will buy it,' he says.
He is also convinced that a music-centric strategy is the right one for Gaymers. It was a decision inspired by two incidents. The first was the arrival of consumer research results that highlighted a huge interest in music among the brand's target audience of 18- to 30-year-olds, leading the company to devise ways in which this could be exploited. The second was a fortuitous dinner date.
'Just by coincidence, I happened to have dinner with (Glastonbury organiser) Michael Eavis. We both knew of each other, but had never met,' says Mills. The pair hit it off, and the dinner ended with a suggestion by Eavis that, as the company is based so close to Glastonbury (its cider mill is in Shepton Mallet), the two should work together. From this emerged a three-year pouring-rights contract.
Despite the overcrowded nature of the premium cider market, Gaymers is more than holding its own among brands such as the over-ice pioneer Magners and Scottish & Newcastle's Bulmers Original.
However, three years ago, when Gaymer Cider Company's brands, which also include Blackthorn, Olde English and the premium Addlestones, were restructured into a separate operating unit of Constellation Europe, the situation was very different.
'I looked at everything and thought, "we have tired, declining brands with no structure or strategy and we have a pretty mixed bag of people" - which is the nicest way I can put it,' says Mills. 'There was no vision, no strategy and no direction, and we were declining by double-digit percentages.'
The company worked hard to better its position, and was succeeding until it hit a setback with the launch of Gaymers Original in 2006. 'We didn't get the packaging right, and someone lost their job,' says Mills, showing his steely side. 'I had to do an Alan Sugar on that one.'
Despite this, according to Nielsen, the brand is now the fastest-growing over-ice cider in the off-trade market since its 2007 relaunch, while its pear variant has greater volume sales per store than any other brand in its category.
Brothers Cider, which previously held pouring rights at Glastonbury, will run a bar at the event despite Gaymers' deal. Mills claims he is 'cool' with this, and seems horrified by the idea of demanding its rival's removal, considering its long-standing relationship with the festival. 'We're all here to grow the category, and to make friends,' he says.
The test, come the end of the festival season, will be just how many friends Mills has gained for the Gaymers brand.
CAREER HISTORY
1983-1993: Salesman, rising to national sales manager, Quaker Oats
1993-2003: Director of national accounts, rising to managing director of branded wine business, Grants of St James's Wines, Matthew Clark
2003-2005: Managing director, Constellation Wines UK, rising to senior vice-president, off-trade sales, Constellation Europe
2005-2008: Managing director, Gaymer Cider Company.