Sales update
The global hop market remains oversupplied, both in alpha and aroma varieties. Early indicators suggest US growers will be significantly reducing acreage for the second consecutive year in 2024. This situation is putting downward pressure on pricing, including our proprietary hops. In the Aussie context, the brewing industry continues to come under pressure with increasing insolvency among our customers. This is expected to continue for some time as the current economic conditions put persistent pressure on small businesses. While organically growing our coverage and service level here in Australia, we are prioritising an increase in export sales to help us rebound as quickly as possible as conditions improve.
Customer satisfaction survey
We implemented our second biennial customer satisfaction survey in November, with 1 in 5 customers taking the time to tell us how they really feel about our products and service. The overall satisfaction rating was 76%, which is a decrease of 4% on 2021. This result was to be expected given hops are currently in oversupply throughout the beer industry, and brewers are feeling the pinch from increasing overhead costs. Respondents particularly value our reliable service, sales reps, and local produce, identifying our Aussie hops as high-quality, reliable, and unique. They also rated our product quality, range, price, and availability above-average compared to other hop suppliers. Plus, they provided some valuable insights into how we can improve, particularly in relation to quarterly communication around contracts and drawdowns, more information about our leading experimental varieties, and the addition of a news and events calendar on our website.
Even Flow mixed pack
We also launched the Even Flow mixed pack in November. To grow awareness of our range of flowable and fully dissolvable products, we teamed up with Beer Cartel and a bunch of local breweries to create eight beers that successfully demonstrated the performance of Eclipse, Galaxy and Vic Secret Spectrum in beer, alongside Flex, Incognito, HopAid and HopHaze. The pack was available to the general public, but we also sent complimentary mixed packs to more than 350 industry professionals to win over brewing customers around the country.
BrewCon23
After a three-year hiatus, BrewCon returned in August. It was our biggest presence at this keystone education and trade event for the Aussie beer industry in recent years. We generated 72 leads during the event, of which 15 have been converted to sales with a total value of $115K. There are an additional 15 Hoptimiser leads open and awaiting equipment availability before they can be converted to sales with a estimated total value of $100K. The day before BrewCon, we hosted a BarthHaas Hops Academy featuring guest speaker Dr Phil Chou, former Director of Brewing Solutions at John I. Haas. This workshop covered a range of topics from hop chemistry and hop sensory, to the brewing applications of liquid hops and industry trends. There were 75 people in attendance, of which 33 were key decision makers regarding raw materials. We were so overwhelmed by the positive response that we’re doing it all again before BrewCon next year.
Hop harvest
We’re excited to welcome our brewing customers back on farm next year. They get a serious kick out of meeting everyone who contributes to growing the hops they know and love. It helps build their appreciation for the scale and quality of our farming operations, which encourages them to buy more hops. Rest assured we’ll be doing everything we can to have minimal impact on farming operations, including working closely with the farm teams over the next month to identify the best tour routes and develop a list of general instructions for our sales reps who will act as tour guides. We’re also major sponsors of High Country Hop in VIC and Hobart Community Hop in TAS, so head along and enjoy your local celebration of fresh hops, fresh beers, fresh tunes, and fresh air.
