TASMANIA, Australia — Australia’s largest hop grower, Hop Products Australia (HPA), has reported a 13% year on year increase in production following their 2019 harvest. The increase reflects the $20million expansion project that HPA concluded in 2017. The maturation of these plantings has increased HPA’s total production by more than 100% since 2014.
Over a period of five weeks HPA harvested 589 hectares across their three farms in Victoria and Tasmania, which resulted in a total production volume of 1,482 metric tonnes. This included substantial increases across their proprietary hop varieties, with an 8.6% increase in Galaxy, a 10.8% increase in Vic Secret, and an enormous 125% increase in their newest proprietary hop variety Enigma.
This year’s production volume has allowed HPA to meet their contractual obligations across all varieties. Demand for HPA’s proprietary hop varieties continually threatens to outweigh supply, as brewers and beer drinkers around the world develop a taste for their uniquely Australian hop characters.
HPA’s managing director, Tim Lord, oversaw his 14th harvest in 2019. Lord says of the recent harvest “we are proud to work alongside breweries all over the world to help create flavor forward beer. Seeing such a significant investment come to fruition is extremely satisfying, particularly as we embark on an even bigger expansion project that will improve supply surety and increase varietal diversity to support our customers’ successes.”
HPA are currently in stage one of a $35million expansion project at Buffalo River, Victoria. This investment will further increase production by 50% in the next 4 years, future proofing their role in theAustralian brewing industry and abroad.
About HPA
HPA is a privately owned and independently managed Australian company, part of the Barth-Haas Group of companies; the largest hop trader in the world, founded in 1794. The farms – Bushy Park Estates (TAS) and Rostrevor Hop Gardens (VIC) – are amongst the oldest continuously operating hop farms in the world. They’ve both been dedicated to growing hops since the late 1800s. Today, from these farms and selected growers, we handle around 80% of the hops grown in Australia, about 1% of the world’s production. Through our dedicated hop breeding program and incessant drive to bring brewers the best hops; we have introduced a number of proprietary flavor hops, in addition to our aroma and bittering varieties.