A HEREFORDSHIRE hop farm has secured a key partnership with an American distributor, which is a big milestone in the firm’s development.

Brook House Hops, based in Avenbury, near Bromyard, has 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.

Even though Brook House already offers brewers a wide range of UK hops from its existing farms in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, the partnership means the firm can step up their US hop offering.

A farmer-owned global hop supplier, Yakima Chief Hops says it has served the global brewing industry for more than 30 years. Its mission is to foster connections between multi-generational family hop farms and the world’s finest brewers, which meant a synergy was found with the independent Brook House Hops.

It is these independent farms the Hereford Times has been supporting over recent months with our #BackingHerefordshireFarming campaign.

Even though pubs shut, the farmers had no choice to carry on growing the hops, despite no clarity as late as the end of spring about pubs would reopen.

They face problems and have successes like any industry, and along with our farming awards, this is what this campaign is all about.

The American company YCH is 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 says it values quality and transparency, but also innovation and sustainability.

Sebastian Nielsen, sales and marketing director at Brook House Hops, said: “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 setbacks due to Covid-19, which led to 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.

It thought the UK in particular had experienced significant growth in the craft beer community, counting more than 2,000 breweries in the region.

Maria Skalli, European distributor accounts manager at YCH, said: “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, Loughran Brewing Stores in Ireland has also come on board, with the plan to better serve local customers across the whole of Europe.

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.