Trading hops (almost) under the radar

Consulting in hop commerce | Though long-established, Lupex is one of the smaller hop trading companies. Shortly after celebrating its 100th anniversary, the company is now preparing for a generational change, while simultaneously repositioning itself in the market with an expanded sales team. BRAUWELT spoke to Fritz Briem Sr., Dr. Fritz Briem and Fritz Briem Jr. about the upcoming changes.

To avoid any confusion regarding names, upon our welcome at the company, Fritz Briem Sr. explained during our introductions to one another: “I am Fritz Briem Sr. This is Junior, and here we have Doctor Briem.” We will also follow this scheme over the course of the interview.

Let’s start with a warm-up question. Could you please tell our readers briefly about the history of Lupex?

Fritz Briem Sr.: Lupex was founded just over 100 years ago in Saaz (Žatec), in the Czech Republic. At that time, there were still subsidiaries in cities in the Czech Republic and Austria. Unfortunately, we no longer have any of the founding documents, as they were lost during the Second World War.

The company was barred from doing business during the Third Reich because the founders were not of Aryan origin. We have found letters in the archives that make for dramatic reading in which the members of the company had to bid farewell to their customers.

My family first came into contact with Lupex in 1959, when I began an apprenticeship at the company. In 1982, I assumed control of the company. We organized a small celebration at our stand at the BrauBeviale trade fair to commemorate our 100th anniversary, which was an unusual public appearance for us.

Did Lupex specialize in hops from the very start?

Briem Sr.: Yes, hops have always been at the financial core of the company’s business model. Our family’s history has long been entwined with hops. My grandfather ran a small company that traded in hops. My father took the reins after a while. He was very technically inclined and operated his own hop processing business. In fact, he was quite the tinkerer and a real innovator. For example, he registered a patent for increasing hop yield using bentonite-stabilized hop pellets. However, we closed our own hop processing facility quite a while ago. There is excess capacity in the hop processing industry, so it is no longer economically viable to process the hops ourselves.

Does consulting play a significant role for the company today?

Dr. Fritz Briem: Absolutely. Along with hops, that’s one of our mainstays and a unique selling point. I received my doctorate at Weihenstephan, and the valuable contacts I had with the chair at the university led to my taking over the Weihenstephan yeast bank, which, in turn, joined Lupex in 2010.

Our customers can benefit greatly from this, especially in the early stages of projects when breweries are still in the process of becoming established. This is especially the case internationally, where newcomers to the industry are in dire need of and greatly appreciate any technical support.

I can say that the smaller the brewery, the greater the cooperation with the yeast bank, because the need for technical consulting is often greater.

Who are your customers?

Dr. Briem: Our company operates across a relatively broad spectrum. We work with brewers in brewpubs and in large corporate breweries. Even homebrewers knock on our door occasionally.

As far as consulting is concerned, we basically treat all of our customers the same. We advise a significant number of people who come to us for our yeast bank. Our personnel always enjoy any opportunity to assist costumers regarding anything to do with yeast and beer production. We offer this service free of charge as long as it doesn't become a recurrent request.

And how many people are employed at Lupex and the Weihenstephan Yeast Bank?

Briem Sr: In this new configuration, we will have a total of ten permanent employees. In addition – at least currently – there are what we call in German Hopfenschmuser in the purchasing department. These are often very amiable farmers who themselves travel to other hop growers for a visit in order to purchase hops on our behalf in return for a commission. Rather, I should probably use the past tense to talk about them since the job of Hopfenschmuser is a dying profession. No young people are coming up to take their place.

Does this mean that in the future you will also directly negotiate purchases?

Fritz Briem Jr.: That is our goal, yes. Conducting purchases in person is important, and hop growers, like all farmers, have very distinctive personalities. Contracts have to be made with a great deal of sensitivity and trust.

Briem Sr.: I would also like to add – and this is a bit specific to Lupex – that we have always been against negotiating unreasonably long preliminary hop contracts. I believe that this involves a great deal of risk for each party involved, both for the grower and the retailer. We prefer to set a duration of three to five years for a contract. Two years before the expiration of the contract, we can then negotiate a new contract with the grower based on the current situation. A kind of rotating system, if you will, that minimizes the risk for everyone involved.

What happens after the purchase?

Briem Jr.: After purchasing, the actual sales side of the agreement comes into play prior to releasing the hops under contract to be processed. Which customers need which products? Which varieties are available and in what quantities? We coordinate the processing based on the answers we receive. The processing capacities are secured through long-term partnerships.

We also purchase finished products, such as specialty varieties from other retailers from overseas. The industry is small, so the economic ties are correspondingly large.

Lupex operates on a scale that still allows us a considerable amount of flexibility in the industry. We have to be taken seriously in discussions with farmers and customers, and likewise we have to project an aura of expertise. We are also small enough that we get along well with everyone involved.

How does hop processing proceed logistically?

Briem Jr.: Hops are harvested within a relatively narrow timeframe. Once the hops have been weighed and certified after the harvest – which takes around a week – we can pay the farmer. Next, we look at what we have already sold of this or that variety and in what form. We can also see what products from the current harvest are available in what qualities. This is the really complex part of the whole process: What total quantity of type 45 pellets do we need? What percentage of alpha acids do the lots possess? It takes a little time to answer these questions. In our experience, there is still a lot of capacity available on the processing side in the first few weeks after harvesting commences. However, when processing really gets going, bottlenecks rapidly develop.

Let’s talk about the upcoming generational change...

Briem Sr.: I will be retiring from my management position in the near future.

Dr. Briem: I will also be stepping down from the board of directors but will continue to work for Lupex. My interests primarily lie in technical consulting, which I will be able to concentrate on even more in the future. Nowadays, I think we have to ask somewhat more provocative questions. Would it perhaps make sense to use hop extracts? We need someone who understands this. An increasing number of breweries are extolling the carbon footprint of their products and are coming under ever greater pressure to reduce it.

Briem Jr.: And I'll be taking over part of the management duties. I've been with the company since 2008 and have worked in every department from the beginning, from purchasing to sales. I am currently responsible for accounting and purchasing, maintaining contact with the hop growers and will also be assuming some of the responsibilities in sales. The restructuring of the company’s management was registered and officially recognized in May of 2025 and is currently being implemented.

Dr. Briem: And at this point I should also mention my sister Rita, who also works for Lupex. A substantial share of our business is in exports, and my sister handles this portion of the business, which is becoming increasingly complex.

The generational change is taking place at the same time as you are strengthening your staff.

Briem Jr.: We have already talked about technical consulting. In the future, however, we don't want to (and can't) focus solely on customers who seek our advice. We already have access to this customer base. Most breweries don't have acute technical issues. In sales, you have to use a network to be able to approach such customers. Through repositioning ourselves, we feel we’ll be able to become acquainted with new customers in the future who are as yet unaware of our range of services or who simply want to be approached in a different way.

Briem Sr.: With Stephan Räker and Mark Wilken, we were able to bring two people on board with decades of experience and outstanding reputations in the industry. And above all, they are highly trusted by breweries and hop growers alike and have been with us since 1 June. Joachim Gehde will also be working with us starting on 1 January 2026.

Briem Jr.: We are very much looking forward to working with them. Of the utmost importance is, of course, that these three new employees fit perfectly into our team on a personal level.

Briem Sr.: This means that our workforce is actually undergoing massive growth. It's a stroke of luck for us that the generational change happens to coincide with this strategic decision. For us, it is an investment in the future.

Thank you very much for the interview and good luck in the future!

The interview was conducted by BRAUWELT editor Dr. Christian Dekant.