YAKIMA CHIEF HOPS
Yakima Chief Hops is a global hop supplier that is 100% grower-owned, whose mission is to connect brewers with family-owned hop farms.
Over 30 years of experience has allowed them to become more than just a hop supplier. They are leaders in innovation, quality and customer service. They are an essential resource for brewers, providing products and research based on innovative solutions. They are champions of sustainability and meaningful social causes, working to support the environment and the communities around them.
As a network of family hop farms that is 100% grower-owned, Yakima Chief Hops is ideally positioned to build strong relationships between growers providing quality hops and the brewers using their crops in their beers.
STRONG VALUES !
Yakima Chief Hops makes it a point of honor to tell the stories of the
independent, family hop farms that supply them with hops, as they work to strengthen the bond
between growers and brewers. The responsibility for this mission, shared with the growers,
requires them to ensure that they all uphold the same complementary, dynamic and positive
vision.
These values are deeply rooted in their heritage and shared with that of the family hop farms.
These core values are the DNA of organization from the way growers cultivate their
fields to the work done in Yakima Chief Hops offices.
PASSION
for people, the product the planet and the process.
RESPECT
for teamwork and collective responsibility.
INTEGRITY
Transparency and accountability in every action and decision.
DEDICATION
Safety, quality and sustainability.
EXCELLENCE
Focus on innovation and continuous improvement.
Yakima Chief Hops core values are more than just words: they are the cornerstone of their approach to providing superior quality hops. Inspired by the work carried out on their family farms, these values serve their goals in terms of quality, teamwork, production and customer service.
« RETURN TO GROWER »
Yakima Chief Hopsis owned by 15 hop growers located in the
Pacific Northwest whose mission is to help make impactful business decisions in the best
interests of growers and brewers
Being part of the farming community creates a meaningful and tangible link with family hop
operations.
This opens up practical, concrete opportunities and involvement at the level of each farm, from best
sustainability practices to quality management.
It is a guarantee of transparency from the hop grower community towards brewers and
farmers. It ensures that the voices of hop growers are heard.
Attentive to the needs of growers and producers. With a perfect understanding of the field, farm
management and needs, they know what it really takes to produce a quality harvest.
That is why Yakima Chief Hops provide a leading-edge retrn to
grower, enabling family farms to keep supplying quality hops year after
year.
What does “Return to Grower” mean?
A Return-to-Grower (RTG) is the dollar amount paid back to farms for the sale of their
hops.
The goal is to return as much value as possible to the farm. On average, 76% of hop sales revenue is
returned to growers, both owners and non-owners. Yakima Chief Hops®
currently sources from more than 50 different family hop farms in the Pacific Northwest, as well as
a few others around the world.
What is the impact of « Return to Grower » mean ?
Quality starts in the fields.
To harvest quality hops, growers must have the resources needed to maintain, improve and expand their fields and facilities, which begins with a fair and healthy RTG.
Strong, sustainable returns enable growers to make critical investments in people, land, infrastructure and farming practices that lead to consistent, high-quality hops.
Green Chief is the set of best practices intended for the farmer partners of Yakima Chief Ranches. They were the pioneers who created this internal Green Chief farm quality and sustainability management program in 2008 as part of a collaborative effort to achieve long-term goals in day-to-day farm operations. The Yakima Chief Hops Best Practices Team was later formed to promote and develop benchmarks, guidelines and strong practices in traceability, harvest food safety, data collection and reporting.
HOW DOES THIS BENEFIT BREWERS ?
From the “Return to Grower” implemented by Yakima Chief Hops through to the Green Chief program, Yakima Chief Hops positions itself as a guarantor of craftsmanship quality from A to Z. This quality has a direct impact on brewers’ success, which is why they have made it their top priority. Enabling brewers to create consistent, competitive beers that make their customers happy and ensure their business thrives. They are committed to helping and supporting their growers by continually investing in their farms, keeping in mind that the difference between a good beer and a great beer lies in the quality of the ingredients.
A WIDE RANGE OF HOPS
Yakima Chief Hops varieties offer a wide range of some of the most popular aromas, including citrus, floral, spicy, stone fruit, sweet and aromatic tropical and even woody notes. Their many products range from fresh hops to whole-leaf hops, also called “cone hops”, as well as organically grown hops, hop blends and of course Cryo Hops
All of the text and visual content used here comes from the yakimachief.com website and has been translated by Bière-Appro. This content is used with the explicit permission of Yakima Chief Hops and is Copyright © 2021 Yakima Chief Hops® Inc. All rights reserved.
You can find all or part of the Yakima Chief Hops range on the Bière-Appro website. That is why Eric Beghi, head of the Bière-Appro brand, chose to work with Yakima Chief Hops in order to offer you their products and share their values with you. For any questions, you can visit their website or, even more simply, contact us by phone, email or directly through our website by clicking here.