When he considers the current state of international hop trade, Paul Corbett has the benefit of 160 years of passed-down institutional knowledge to help put it into context.
“Brewers should recognize—though I’m pretty sure many already do—that the hop market is undergoing a structural reset,” says Corbett, group managing director at England-based hop supplier Charles Faram.
Two recent reports from the U.S. Department of Agricultural suggest that supply and demand are beginning to stabilize. Worldwide, however, the hop industry is still measuring the impact of shrinking beer sales in many traditional markets. Two more variables: the growth of styles that can be brewed with fewer hops per barrel and the popularity of more efficient hop products.
“We are still in a period of rapid change,” says Leslie Roy, owner of Roy Farms in Moxee, Washington. Roy also serves as president of the International Hop Growers’ Convention (IHGC), which met in May in Italy. “The path forward, for hop-producing countries, is not a global solution.”
Core demand for many varieties has shifted, and hop farmers are looking to brewers for direction. It won’t be the decision-makers of any particular country who decide the market’s next shifts. Instead, Roy says, that will be decided “by the brewers.”
Here’s more context to help inform those decisions, including some updates on specific varieties—a few growing, others shrinking, and still others getting an audition.