Sales update
In addition to a later-than-expected change in US demand for our crop 2025 Galaxy® hops, new sales have also been slow in the domestic markets. Industry media remains fairly negative, with further brewery closures, sales or mergers featuring heavily. While consumer sentiment is low and household incomes remain under pressure from increased cost of living pressure, it is expected that total beer volumes in Australia will continue to decline. Unfortunately, we don’t expect to see a recovery of the premium beer categories we predominantly sell into in the immediate future. Despite the flat market conditions, we are well positioned with low inventory levels on hand from crop 2024. Major varieties such as Galaxy®, Vic Secret™, Eclipse® and Ella™ are all above 98% contracted.
A detailed marketing strategy and tactical sales plan has been presented to Haas to aid in the recovery of Aussie hop sales in the US. The US market is in a similar condition to the Australian market, but perhaps 6-12 months ahead and just starting to rebound from the bottom of the market. Just like HPA, hop growers in the US have taken the appropriate steps to reduce supply in response to the market conditions. US brewers remain the biggest flavour-orientated hop buyers in the world and our efforts are focused on success in this market.
Supporting our sales and marketing endeavours is the positive impact of crop 2023 and crop 2024 in beer. Both local and international brewing customers are very happy with the way our Aussie hops are currently performing, sharing statements like “that [crop 2024] Galaxy® was some of the very best I have ever worked with, even going back to 2016.” (Steve Luke, Cloudburst Brewing). This is some of the most powerful marketing we can do – by growing a great crop and producing high-quality pellets that brewers love to use in their beers. Quality counts!
Hop Central
The marketing team has been working closely with the Victorian farm team to design signage for the Hop Central entrance that is scheduled to be installed in February. They will also be turning the training room into a brewer’s lounge for the month of March, where customers will be able to enjoy a beer and a snack after touring our farms and facilities.
Hop Harvest
Planning for the 38th Asia-Pacific IBD Convention is in full swing, including presentations from a number of our HPA hop experts as well as pre and post-event farm tours. In preparation for hosting our brewing customers in our growing regions, we updated the Discover Tasmania and See High Country Victoria webpages. We are also working with the breweries in our growing regions to identify which beers on their menu feature our Aussie hops. These will be highlighted on table talkers and coasters in their venues for the month of March. Whether they’re able to visit our farms or not, everyone will be able to celebrate Aussie hop harvest through the busy calendar of social media posts we have planned over the next few months.
Fresh Hop Festivals
Soon you’ll be able to enjoy some tasty fresh hop beers featuring our Aussie hops. HPA is once again Event Partner for the High Country Hop on March 22 in Beechworth, Victoria, and the Hobart Community Hop on March 29 in Hobart, Tasmania. We encourage you all the head along and enjoy these epic celebrations of fresh hops, fresh beers, fresh tunes and fresh air.
Liquid Hops Roadshow
Off the back of Hops Academy in August, we ran a Liquid Hops Roadshow in October. We took planes, trains and automobiles to promote our innovative hop products to brewers in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland and Wellington. Kevin McCarry the Global Innovation Support Manager at BarthHaas led six half-day sessions with support from our Sales Reps, James Dittko of Bridge Road Brewers in Australia, and Pat Sharpe of Panhead in New Zealand. As you can see in this video, everyone came together for the purpose of better brewing efficiency, sustainability and profitability.
Haas Aussie Hop Bootcamp
Our US distribution partner John I. Haas has recently expanded their sales & marketing team to be able to service more breweries than ever before. To help their new hires get up to speed on all things HPA, we delivered an Aussie Hop Bootcamp that covered everything from our history, hop breeding program and proprietary hops, to current messaging, key sales tools and co-branding opportunities. It was so well received that we’ve been asked to deliver the same bootcamp to our Canadian distribution partner Hops Connect in February.
