We have some great news for what has been a very strange year so far – we have recently partnered as a product distributor for the UK with Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) of Yakima, Washington in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.
A 100% farmer owned global hop supplier, Yakima Chief Hops has served the global brewing industry for more than 30 years. Their mission is to foster connections between multi-generational family hop farms and the world’s finest brewers, which meant a synergy was found with us as an independent hop farm ourselves.
Owned by 15 hop growers from across the Pacific Northwest, YCH is uniquely positioned to tell the stories of where great beer begins. With a company rooted in family farming, YCH not only values quality and transparency, but also innovation and sustainability.
Sebastian Nielsen, our Sales & Marketing Director is delighted with the new partnership: “Partnering with YCH is another big milestone in the growth of our business. They visited our farm a couple of years ago and inspired us with best practice around hop growing, storage and processing. We share the same values around quality and maintaining close relationships directly with brewers, so it is a perfect match that will benefit our customers greatly.”
Despite recent set-backs due to Covid-19 instigated pub closures across the world, the craft brewing industry continues to expand and YCH reached out due to its desire to remain committed to forming strategic partnerships with approved distributors. They noted that the UK & Ireland in particular had experienced significant growth in the craft beer community, counting more than 2000 breweries in the region.
Maria Skalli, European Distributor Accounts Manager at YCH notes “At YCH, we value the opportunity to connect with distributors and breweries of all sizes, no matter where they are in the world. Local distributors are particularly well-equipped to work alongside our regional sales managers, to help us reach and satisfy the needs of breweries of all sizes and needs across the world.”
As well as Brook House Hops in the UK, Loughran Brewing Stores Ltd in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have also come on board, with the plan to better serve local customers across the whole of Europe.
Skalli continues “Our local YCH team members Katie Richardson and Jason Little are looking forward to working with Brook House Hops and Loughran Brewing Stores. We are excited to find synergies with these distributors to ensure that our brewing customers are happy with the solutions we offer.”
By working with local distributors across The Pond, YCH can offer a variety of options to craft breweries big and small, to get the best hops into their beer – these partnerships also create value for brewing customers as they allow for more flexible delivery sizes, access to local YCH inventory and improved delivery times.
With our existing Herefordshire and Worcestershire farms bringing brewers an incredible portfolio of UK hops, we are thrilled to be able to level up our US hop offering too. Using state of the art modern local refrigerated warehouses, we can deliver products to exacting standards with quick turnaround times, things which are important to both our ethos and that of YCH.
We also supply a wide range of additional brewing ingredients, providing brewers with the convenience to purchase all their supplies from one place, cementing our tempting offering for brewers across the continent. Both us and Loughran Brewing Stores operate family farms of their own, which means we share a unique passion with YCH for growing quality ingredients, knowing that great beer starts in the field.
Visit our homepage to check out our range of hops, malt and yeast today.
