New analytical tool for breweries

Risk mitigation | The hop industry is likely to face unprecedented challenges in the future: Climate change, higher production costs and increasingly stringent legal requirements in pesticide use are all potential threats to our companies and are likely to impact the business of brewing. With a new analytical tool, hop specialist BarthHaas aims to help its customers identify and minimize their future risks.

Climate change is taking its toll on the hop industry. Following a significant global yield decline last year, the industry is once again facing a below-average harvest in many hop-growing areas due to the dry summer of 2023. This is why BarthHaas, the world’s leading hop specialist, provides expertise to support its customers during these challenging times. The industry is increasingly under pressure, not only from weather and climate but also due to other factors. High costs for raw materials and energy are burdening manufacturers, as well as tightened regulations on the use of pesticides. Laws are being changed worldwide to make agriculture more environmentally friendly.

“There is a changing world – How well-prepared are you?”, BarthHaas asks its customers at the start of the simple test, which the company now makes available on its website (www.barthhaas.com/risk). “Our new analytical tool helps breweries identify how they can recognize problems and limit risks”, explains Thomas Raiser, Managing Director of BarthHaas. In no more than ten minutes, participants answer questions about the hop varieties they use, their raw material stocks, and the new legal regulations regarding pesticide residues.

Additional whitepaper

In addition to the individual test results, BarthHaas provides interested parties with a whitepaper where they can learn about risk mitigation options. “At BarthHaas, we already work closely with hop growers, hop research, and cultivation advisory services to operate as efficiently as possible, but there are also actions that brewers can take themselves”, emphasizes Stephan Schinagl, Head of Purchasing. Of course, if brewers still have questions after the test, they can also ask their contact at BarthHaas.

The support that BarthHaas offers its partners in the face of climate change and cost increases is part of the new international flagship campaign “Thriving Together in an ever-changing World” which the hop specialist launched in the summer.