Sales update
Crop 2022 inventory levels are critically low, with all varieties either sold out or very low quantities available, with the exception of Enigma. Overall, the 2023 crop remains contracted up to the prescribed limit and every hop cone we can harvest will find a good home. Our Customer Service team continues to perform strongly, with an annual increase in shipments of 4%. This is the 9th year in a row that we’ve increased domestic shipments.
We launched our new product catalogue in December which will be used as a sales tool to secure new business and increase spend among existing customers by providing a snapshot of our complete product portfolio.
Orders for our 2023 green hop program have now closed. We received more than 40 orders from breweries across the South-eastern seaboard of Australia including big names like Cascade, 4 Pines, Young Henrys and Sydney Brewery alongside our favourite local breweries. Your best chance to try these limited-edition beers is at the High Country Hop Festival on Saturday 25th of March in Beechworth, VIC and Fresh Hop Beer Festival on the 14th and 15th of April in New Norfolk, TAS. HPA is the event sponsor, and would love to see as many of you there enjoying these epic celebrations of our hops and our growing regions as possible.
Aussie Explorer mixed pack
We launched the Aussie Explorer mixed pack in November. To celebrate our propriety hops’ brand refresh, we teamed up with Beer Cartel and a dozen Aussie breweries to create a limited-edition mixed pack of beers featuring each one of our Aussie hops. The project successfully demonstrated the performance of our Aussie hops in beer, and encouraged breweries to reference our brands key visuals on their can art to create a stronger connection between the beer and its ingredients. The mixed pack was available to the general public, but we also sent complimentary mixed packs to more than 350 commercial brewers, industry media and industry influencers to grow awareness of our Aussie hops and win over brewing customers around the country.
Farm tours
We’re excited to welcome our commercial brewing customers back on farm this year. They get a serious kick out of meeting everyone who contributes to growing the hops they know and love, not to mention seeing them fresh on the bine. Plus, it helps to build their appreciation for the scale and quality of our farming operations, which encourages them to buy more hops.
Our international distribution partners BarthHaas and Haas are bringing some of their best commercial brewing customers to Australia for hop harvest including Adnams, Dogma, Dois Corvos, Gorilla, Salama, Abita, Coronado, Firestone Walker, Hop Valley, Humble Sea, Kona, Terrapin, Tree House and Von Ebert.
Rest assured we’ll be doing everything we can to have minimal impact on farming operations. We’ve been working closely with the farm teams over the past month to identify the best tour routes and develop a list of general instructions for our sales reps who will acts as tour guides. You’ll might also notice some flashy signage around the place including a welcome sign at the farm office that links to a new digital visitor induction, and variety-specific signage in the showcase block that links to sensory feedback forms which our visitors will be encouraged to complete.
