HPA News – HPA

Experience LUPOMAX®

Pixel3 — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 23:33:27 +0000

Following on from our Eclipse^® mixed 12-pack in 2020, we’ve teamed up with Beer Cartel once again in 2021. This time it’s all about bigger, bolder, brighter hop flavour thanks to our newest innovation product. We’ve challenged a dozen Aussie breweries to make limited edition beers featuring popular hops exclusively in the form of LUPOMAX^® with the hope of winning over brewers across the country.

LUPOMAX^® is an enriched lupulin pellet produced via the HAAS^® Sensory Plus process that is designed to deliver optimised flavour and reliable brewing performance year after year. LUPOMAX^® has less vegetative matter than the traditional T90 hop pellets, and is more concentrated so brewers can use fewer pellets to make more beer. LUPOMAX^® is available now in Amarillo^® VGXP01 c.v., Ariana, BRU-1, Callista, Cashmere, Citra^® HBC 394 c.v., Columbus, Ekuanot^® HBC 366 c.v., El Dorado^®, Huell Melon, Idaho 7, Mosaic^® HBC 369 c.v., Saaz and Sabro^® HBC 438 c.v. with more hop varieties to follow.

Hop Nation is just one of the awesome Aussie breweries featured in the LUPOMAX^® Mixed 12-Pack. Their Lead Production Brewer Paul Clarke said “This experience proved to us that LUPOMAX^® offers brewers heaps of flexibility, and we can imagine it playing a key role in both our big dry hopped IPAs and other more subtle styles in the future.”

According to Owen Johnston, Head of Sales and Marketing at HPA, the success of the Eclipse® Mixed 12-Pack showed that a project like this has value for both HPA and Aussie brewers. “The LUPOMAX^® Mixed 12-Pack will help us demonstrate how the product performs in a range of beer styles, which is mission critical when it comes to new hops and innovation products. Plus, we got to collaborate with the participating breweries which is something we love doing, and particularly invaluable for our relationship in times like these. We’re stoked all of the breweries were keen to be involved. We certainly couldn’t have done it without them.” said Johnston.

Another major player in the LUPOMAX^® Mixed 12-Pack is craft beer retailer Beer Cartel. Richard Kelsey, Director of Beer Cartel said “We love being involved in projects with HPA, working with some of the best indie breweries in the country, and creating offerings that celebrate the latest in hop innovation. As more and more consumers embrace craft beer, we’ve seen their knowledge around brewing and hops grow. There was significant interest in Eclipse^® last year, with people wanting to learn about the hop through the mixed 12-Pack. We can’t wait to offer Aussie beer drinkers a similar experience with the LUPOMAX^® Mixed 12-Pack.”

If you want to get your hands on some LUPOMAX^® enriched hop pellets, get in touch with your local sales rep today:

International

Owen Johnston

owen.johnston@hops.com.au

0400 126 015

National, NSW & ACT

Michael Capaldo

michael.capaldo@hops.com.au

0490 441 090

TAS & NZ

Adrian Ianculovici

adrian.ianculovici@hops.com.au

0498 648 770

WA, SA & NT

Brad Nolen

brad.nolen@hops.com.au

0417 397 364

QLD

Simeon Bonetti

simeon.bonetti@hops.com.au

0490 489 007

VIC

Phil Rutjens

phil.rutjens@hops.com.au

0421 944 849

2024 Crop Report

Pixel3 — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 22:31:03 +0000

Hop Products Australia (HPA) have completed this year’s harvest. We picked 670 hectares across Victoria and Tasmania, which resulted in 1,340 tonnes of hops. This was a 177 hectare (21%) decrease and a 480 tonne (26%) decrease year-on-year across six proprietary varieties – Eclipse^®, Ella, Enigma^®, Galaxy^®, Topaz and Vic Secret – as well as Cascade. This year’s oil content came in equal or above the 5-year average for all proprietary hops, with a particularly strong showing from Galaxy^® that should lead to a great year of performance in beer.

Crop 2024 looks a little different to previous years because of some changes to global demand. This led HPA to idle around 20% of our gardens, resulting in a year-on-year decrease across all proprietary hops. In the current state of global oversupply, this was a necessary step toward rebalancing supply and demand.

We have used this production decrease as an opportunity to focus on quality, with greater flexibility to refine our standard operating procedures and harvest each variety at optimal maturity. Impact in beer is expected to remain strong, with this year’s average oil content coming in equal or above the 5-year average for all proprietary hops. The two star performers were Galaxy^® and Enigma^® with both oils and alphas above the 5-year average, ensuring good quality pellets that should deliver a great year of true-to-type flavours and aromas in beer.

HPA continue to invest in quality improvements. As is the case with most building projects, our new Victorian pellet plant took longer than expected to get up and running. It was not commissioned in time to process crop 2024 as planned, but we were prepared for this possibility. Instead, crop 2024 was processed at our existing Victorian pellet plant which was maintained in a state of readiness for this eventuality.

We have also been tightening our minimum quality standards over the past few years, conducting a sensory review of any material flagged as non-conforming at any stage of the production process. If subsequent data analysis reported a significantly lower alpha and oil content, or a significantly higher HSI this material was subject to assessment for potential faults and true-to-type aromas. This process ensures only great material goes into our blends, and consistently high-quality pellets are presented to our brewing customers.

HPA is in awe of the resilience our industry has shown over the past few years. We are managing our production costs to minimise any effect on hop pricing, while continuing to invest in technology, infrastructure and process improvements that will ultimately benefit our brewing customers. In the current state of global oversupply, availability of Aussie hops is better than ever. As supply and demand returns to balance, we encourage our brewing customers to consider their Aussie hop requirements, and communicate them early and often.

2022 Crop Report

Pixel3 — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 22:31:44 +0000

We have completed the 2022 hop harvest, picking 810 hectares across our three farms, which resulted in 1,656 metric tonnes of hops. This was a 135 hectare (20.1%) net increase and a 130 metric tonnes (8.4%) net increase year-on-year across six proprietary varieties – Eclipse^®, Ella, Enigma^®, Galaxy^®, Topaz and Vic Secret – as well as Cascade. Plus, impact in beer is expected to remain strong, with oil content equal or above the 5-year average for all varieties.

This year’s harvest marked a significant milestone, with the completion of a $35 million capital expansion project that involved planting 300 new hectares of in-demand Aussie flavour hops like Eclipse^®, Galaxy^® and Vic Secret as well as constructing a new processing facility. This increased capacity allowed us to process all hops in a timely fashion, as well as creating more chances for employment, skills development and priority purchasing of local products and services in our growing region.

Our focus now shifts to maximising the productivity of these new hop gardens. The increase in acreage has not yet resulted in a relative increase in production volume, with the new plantings scheduled to reach commercial maturity by 2024. At this point Eclipse^® is forecast to reach 180 metric tonnes, making it our third biggest proprietary hop.

Aussie hops continue to enjoy strong demand from brewers everywhere, which means crop 2022 is heavily contracted. The importance we place on responsible contracting will allow us to meet all commitments, with a very limited amount of hops available on the spot market. Brewers are encouraged to communicate their Aussie hop requirements to our sales team, and enter into rolling forward contracts for supply security.

HPA Appoints Owen Johnston as new CEO

jAmieaDMin27 — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 03:33:10 +0000

The Board and shareholders are pleased to announce that HPA has appointed Owen Johnston as their new CEO, following an extensive global process with the assistance of Derwent Search. The current Head of Sales & Marketing will commence his new position when current Managing Director & CEO Tim Lord retires at the end of April 2025.

Owen built Moo Brew, the largest craft brewery in Tasmania, Australia, where he worked as Head Brewer for 10 years before turning his focus to bringing Aussie flavour hops to brewers around the world. He has a BSc and MBA from the University of Tasmania and a Master of Science from the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland which form the foundation of his extensive understanding of the supply chain, from the hop farm to the brewery floor. Over the past 11 years at HPA, Owen has been instrumental in building a globally recognised brand that is valued by brewers around the world.

Shareholder Stephan Barth said “Owen’s extensive 20+ years’ experience in the beer and hop industry sets him up to spearhead the business’ next phase of development. He has worked at HPA for the past 11 years and has intricate knowledge of the business, the industry, the driving forces that will support our future, and importantly our customers. Owen is well placed to represent the BarthHaas group as HPA’s new CEO.”

Owen Johnston said “I’m honoured and delighted to be appointed HPA’s new CEO, and really looking forward to leading HPA’s next chapter, ensuring we continue to create impactful flavours to delight beer lovers. We’ve built a great team at HPA, and I’m very proud of what we have achieved, particularly in the last 10 years. I am confident we will continue to face challenges together and collaborate strongly with our partners for continued success as the high-quality specialist hop supplier of choice.”

Mr Barth noted “On behalf of the shareholders, I would like to extend our deep gratitude to Tim Lord for his leadership and integrity during his 20 years as Managing Director & CEO, and for the instrumental role he has played in HPA becoming a globally recognised supplier of flavour hops. He laid out the vision for HPA’s growth in Australia and overseas.”

Owen will work closely with Tim over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition, with a continued focus on our customers, providing stability, and positioning HPA to thrive in beer and beyond.

Our Aussie hops have stacks of flavour

Pixel3 — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 00:53:02 +0000

Now they have stacks of personality too! The launch of Eclipse^® went so well we decided to treat the rest of our Aussie hops to a brand refresh.

Prepare to feel a sense of nostalgia as you scroll through this short playlist of videos presenting each of our proprietary hop’s fresh new looks.

We’ve also put together a digital media kit of logos, key visuals, data sheets, photography and videography that we encourage you to use when telling your own stories about brewing with our Aussie hops.

We hope you enjoy exploring these exciting new assets as much as we enjoyed making them.

How you can bag the best US hops in Australia

jAmieaDMin27 — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 22:00:55 +0000

A fresh crop just landed in our cool store, so let’s talk about why you should shop with HPA to bag the best US hops in Australia and New Zealand. From experience, you know the flavour profile of US hops can differ from year-to-year and lot-by-lot. This is the reality when a large number of independent growers, spread across diverse geography, contribute to the yield of a single variety. Only a few Australian and New Zealand breweries are eligible for US hop selections, with the bulk of our market either contracting modest volumes or preferring to purchase on the spot market. Fortunately, the combined strength of HPA’s hop contracts and spot volumes means that we qualify for selections on behalf of all our brewing customers, big and small.

As regional representative of the global BarthHaas group, HPA’s seat at the John I. Haas selections table is also relatively early compared to our buying size. We’re not right at the front of the line, but we’re pretty close, which gives us the opportunity to select from high-quality lots that very few brewers get to see.

Haas have been growing hops in the Pacific Northwest for four generations. We currently supply a range of 26 different US hops, including 7 commercial releases and 3 experimental varieties from the Hop Breeding Company (HBC). HBC is a joint venture of Haas’, which means HPA have access to the best Citra^®, Mosaic^®, Sabro^®, Ekuanot^®, Talus and Krush, supported by significant quantities. We also have access to the best El Dorado^®because of Haas’ close relationship with CLS Farms.

Haas have been growing Citra^® since 1990, when it was first crossed by their Head Breeder Gene Probasco. Haas bestowed the Citra^® cultivar to HBC in 2005 when there was emerging brewer interest in a citrus variety. Haas Farm Manager Mark Sechser says there’s no one better positioned to grow a high-quality Citra^® crop, “Our practice of propagation through vegetal cuttings ensures virus-free material and true-to-typeness from the time of deployment. You could say we’re growing customer confidence from the ground up.” Haas is anticipating their new farm Longmire Ranch, located in the nearby Wenas Valley, will yield some particularly high-quality hops. Sechser explains “It’s pristine ground that has never been planted with hops, and it’s isolated from the traditional Yakima growing region, so we’re excited about the aroma potential.”

Haas equips HPA with one of the most powerful supply chains in the Yakima Valley. In addition to their internal farms, agronomists and sensory experts, Haas has a team of hop buyers who are intimately connected with growers in the Pacific Northwest. Haas Vice President of Supply Chain Management and Purchasing Pete Mahony says “The close relationships we hold with our growers ensure we receive an accurate insight into quality outcomes as the crop comes into bale receival.” From there, Haas’ panel of 30 sensory experts profile every lot of hops processed over the course of harvest. “This prepares us to run a very disciplined and systematic selections process, where we use the specific aroma profiles we have developed for many of our customers to determine which lots we show them on arrival. When crop outcomes are great, this process is easy. On the flipside, when crop outcomes are sub-optimal for whatever reason, we get to flex our sensory muscles in search of the lot that makes their eyes light up. We have purposefully built relationships with a large cross-section of growers so we always have access to a great range of aromas regardless of whether it’s been a ‘good’ year or a ‘tough’ year in terms of crop outcomes.” says Mahony.

Each year, HPA invite a small group of valued customers to the Haas Innovation Centre in Yakima, Washington to help us source the very best US hops on behalf of Australia and New Zealand. Young Henrys Head Brewer Jesse Searls was part of this group in 2024, saying “It’s a privilege to be in Yakima selecting hops, but to be part of a group that is responsible for securing the very best material for hundreds of brewers back home is very humbling. The fact that HPA actively involve their customers in this process shows how much they value our preferences and opinions. Of course, having hop sensory rockstars, such as Chris Swersey, on our side of the table certainly doesn’t hurt either.”

HPA International Business Development Manager Chris Swersey explains “The selections process involves Haas presenting 5 to 7 bale core samples for each variety based on certain specifications and contract requirements.” According to Searls “Haas take selections really seriously, which instils confidence from the get-go. You can feel the focus in the room once lots start coming out for evaluation.”

At the beginning of selections, we review the lot data and flag anything that could be cause for concern. This includes any statistically high or low results across the key parameters of HSI, alpha content, oil content, and moisture content. Once we have a feel for the material on the table, the process is very similar to how a brewer would assess a beer. Initially, we focus on fault finding. This is a visual assessment where we look for irregularities like lots of leaf and stem or abnormal colouring, as well as a sensory assessment where we look for undesirable qualities such as cheesy, musty, or intense onion and garlic aromas. This process typically allows us to exclude around half the lots on the table.

Once we have the remaining 2 to 3 lovely, bright lots in front of us, the winners are determined based on whether they are true-to-type and overall preference. “These two components are incredibly important for HPA, as we are selecting for hundreds of brewing customers who each have certain expectations of their favourite US hops. Consistently meeting these expectations is mission critical to supporting our brewing customers’ success.” says Swersey. HPA then selects a sufficient quantity of the highest ranked lots to meet total demand in Australia and New Zealand. Often one lot is big enough to fulfil demand, sometimes we need 2 to 3 lots to fulfil demand. Other times we’ll blend two lots to create a more complex mix of sensory attributes we know brewers and drinkers value.

Selections began at a time when there were relatively few hop varieties, as a tool for large brewers to hold US suppliers accountable to a certain level of quality. Today, this level of quality should be expected from any supplier, and US selections have evolved into an industry-wide event that provides valuable feedback to suppliers and growers about which sensory characteristics are important to brewers, as well as helping educate brewers about the complexities of hop growing, processing, analysis and supply. This shared understanding has helped to build stronger relationships between brewers, suppliers and growers.

Searls says “My favourite thing about US hop selections is the ‘watering hole’ moment – that unique sense of community, safety and nourishment you feel when you’re sharing a beer with a bunch of like-minded people from around the world. It makes you realise that beer is a universal language, with a rich history that is intrinsically linked with who we are a species today. It’s just so cool!”

The Haas Innovation Centre is our home away from home during selections. It becomes a hive of activity with heaps of Haas employees happy to share their extensive knowledge over top-notch beers in their beautiful beer garden. Searls attended the Haas Hops Academy on the first day, saying it was “a nice balance of super technical elements and hands-on hop rubbing and blending. They actually held a competition where we were put into teams and tasked with creating the best beer and seltzer blends using Haas’ new liquid hop products. Controversially, my team was robbed of both titles thanks to some passionate lobbying of the voters by one Owen Johnston.” Searls says “Being in Yakima for selections feels like an intravenous injection of knowledge from so many smart people all working in the beer industry. The experience is invaluable. Of course, the social aspect is incredible too.”

HPA is confident that our ‘selected by brewers for brewers’ approach to curating our US portfolio yields the highest quality hops for our brewing customers in Australia and New Zealand, big and small.

Reach out to your HPA sales rep if you’d like to discuss US hops, the selection process, or forward contracting in more detail.

HPA invest in state-of-the-art facility

Pixel3 — Thu, 29 May 2025 23:24:39 +0000

We’re excited to announce that HPA has purchased the former Tobacco Cooperative of Victoria property in Myrtleford, Victoria, which we plan to transform into a fully operational, state-of-the-art pellet plant, packaging line and cold storage by 2025.

The AUD$20million project will effectively double our current processing capacity – a necessary requirement following our AUD$50million investment in acreage expansion over the past 8 years. This additional capacity will allow us to process our increasing volume of hops in a timely fashion, ensuring we produce consistently high-quality hop pellets so our brewing customers can make consistently high-quality beers.

The new facility will support the centralisation of pelleting and packaging hops from HPA’s Victorian and Tasmanian growing regions, which will total 900 hectares or an estimated 2,400 metric tonnes by 2024. It will handle every hop bale pressed from crop 2025 onwards, producing in excess of 50 tonnes of pellets per day.

On top of centralised pelleting and packaging in a temperature-controlled environment, the site will become the administrative headquarters for our Victorian operation, including laboratory facilities and significant cold storage for bales and finished goods. It will also be utilised as a training hub to develop the skills of HPA’s existing and future workforce.

Bushy Park Estates in Tasmania’s south remains integral to HPA’s operation, and their head office will remain in Hobart.

Download media release: HPA invest in state-of-the-art pelleting, packaging and cold storage facility (PDF)

Lindsy Greig joins the team

jAmieaDMin27 — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 06:05:11 +0000

We’re excited to announce that Lindsy Greig has joined our team as the new Sales Rep for NZ. Lindsy has more than 10 years’ experience in beer, including time as Senior Brewer and Cellar Lead at Stomping Ground Brewery, judging international beer competitions, and most recently helping breweries throughout the Asia Pacific optimise their operations with Beer30.

A Certified Cicerone^® and active voice in the brewing community, with industry experience in the US, NZ and AUS, Lindsy thrives on troubleshooting with brewers – whether it’s dialling in process, digging into data, exploring sensory, or finding the right tools (and snacks) for the job. She’s especially passionate about supporting brewers with clarity, creativity, and collaboration, and is looking forward to catching up with as many NZ breweries as possible in the coming months. Keep an eye out for Lindsy at our Christchurch Liquid Hops Roadshow in July, as well as the NZ Beer Awards in August where she’ll be presenting the trophy for International Pale Ale.

Lindsy will be working closely with Michael over the next few weeks to make sure she’s up to speed on our NZ brewing customers. In the meantime, you can get in touch with Lindsy at Lindsy.Greig@hops.com.au or +61 447 224 852 for a chat about beer and cheese pairings or why feijoa is the G.O.A.T, or to discuss your Aussie, international and innovative hop product requirements.

Responsible service of water

Pixel3 — Wed, 20 Nov 2019 07:40:07 +0000

Our farms are more than fields, poles, strings and hops. They are our communities, customers and employees future. As the largest hop grower in Australia it’s important for us to consider the economic, environmental and social impact of every decision we make, which is why we are working toward a sustainability strategy that complies with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) responsible and ethical business standards.

The efficient and effective use of water is one piece of our sustainability strategy. Although our farms have been established upon land where the soil is rich and the water supply is abundant, we value the natural resources that ensure our success, and strive to manage them responsibly. This includes the use of a cloud-based irrigation system that continuously monitors soil moisture levels to ensure we only use as much water as we need to deliver high quality hops to brewers, while conserving the rest to support the local flora, fauna and recreation.

In order to produce one of the highest yielding hop crops in the world while conserving as much water as possible, we need to continually assess our net irrigation needs. This process involves calculating the maximum evapotranspiration (ie. total losses due to transpiration and evaporation from the soil) using climate data and our knowledge of the crop needs during critical growth stages. By following evaporation rates from the previous week versus historical climate data, the weather forecast, the current soil moisture status, the age and growth stage of a crop, we can accurately predict our irrigation needs for the week ahead throughout the growing season.

We use a predictive model that utilises an array of Australian Bureau of Meterology (BoM) data relating to our farms in order to forecast the evapotranspiration for the week ahead. Knowing the forecast rate of water loss from our fields, we are well placed to efficiently and effectively manage the resources available to us.

The amount of water our crop needs is dependent on the age of the crop and the growth stage it is in. Young crops typically need less water than more established crops, while both will need increasingly more water as they move through the critical growth stages. This is known as ‘crop factor’. We multiply the evaporation rate by the ‘crop factor’ to accurately schedule irrigation for the week ahead.

Evapotranspiration of the growing season in 2019

We also have in-field soil moisture monitoring probes on our farms that take a reading every ten minutes in 10cm intervals from 5cm to 85cm in depth. These readings are logged to a cloud-based server that our Farm Managers and Agronomists can view remotely, in real time over the course of the growing season.

Using our in-field soil moisture monitoring probes, we can also track the influence of irrigation, variance in plant uptake and rainfall. This allows us to apply the optimum amount of irrigation on a field-by-field basis. Irrigation optimisation is particularly important as too much water causes our crop to become water-logged resulting in overall yield loss, while not enough water causes our crop to go into shock resulting in photosynthesis shutting down and overall yield loss.

Real time readings from cloud-based soil moisture monitoring and irrigation optimisation technology in 2019

We have been using soil moisture monitoring and irrigation optimisation technology for nearly 20 years, and we will continue to invest, develop and refine our processes to ensure we keep managing the natural resources we use responsibly.

International

Owen Johnston

owen.johnston@hops.com.au

0400 126 015

National, NSW & ACT

Michael Capaldo

michael.capaldo@hops.com.au

0490 441 090

TAS & NZ

Adrian Ianculovici

adrian.ianculovici@hops.com.au

0498 648 770

WA, SA & NT

Brad Nolen

brad.nolen@hops.com.au

0417 397 364

QLD

Simeon Bonetti

simeon.bonetti@hops.com.au

0490 489 007

VIC

Phil Rutjens

phil.rutjens@hops.com.au

0421 944 849

Hop Central earns FSSC certification

jAmieaDMin27 — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 23:19:12 +0000

At HPA, delivering high-quality products isn’t just about the hops we grow, it’s also about how we process them. We adhere to various quality and food safety certification systems across our sites. These structured frameworks help us consistently deliver on our promise to deliver the highest possible quality hops, giving brewers confidence in every carton we sell.

Hop Central was recently Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) 22000 certified. This significant milestone provides a framework for auditing and certifying HPA’s food safety management systems. It is based on the international standard ISO 22000 and incorporates additional requirements specific to businesses that process or manufacture natural ingredients. This certification demonstrates HPA’s ability to manage food safety risks, prevent food fraud, and comply with industry standards.

We chose to pursue FSSC 22000 certification for Hop Central, instead of ISO 22000, because of the additional requirements recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). This adds another layer of trust and assurance for our customers whilst integrating seamlessly with our existing ISO quality management system.

FSSC 22000 certification confirms that Hop Central follows globally recognised best practice to produce the highest quality hop pellets, in a consistent and compliant manner. It also ensures that our processes are not only effective today but are continuously monitored and future proofed.

Our farms, along with our head office, are International Standard Organisation (ISO) 9001 and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) CXC 1-1969 certified. ISO 9001 sets the benchmark for quality management systems, helping us streamline processes and ensure consistent product quality. While HACCP CXC 1-1969 is a globally recognised food safety system that identifies and mitigates potential hazards in production. Together, they form a strong foundation for managing quality and safety throughout our supply chain.

Structured certifications like FSSC, ISO and HACCP aren’t just boxes for HPA to tick, they reflect our deep commitment to regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, and continuous improvement of our practices. They support a culture of accountability and excellence, ensuring that each part of our process, from propagation to pellet, meets internationally recognised standards.

At HPA, we’re proud to be part of a global brewing community that values quality and consistency. Our certifications reflect the seriousness with which we take our role in that ecosystem, ensuring that the hops you rely on are grown, handled, and processed with the same care that you have for your beers.