Each year in March, hundreds of brewers descend upon High Country Victoria and Southern Tasmania to experience the sights, sounds and smells of the Hop Products Australia (HPA) harvest. This year, it represents more than a year-long growing effort, it marks the unveiling of HPA Hop Central, their new state-of-the-art pelleting, packaging and cold storage facility.
In 2024, a dry and cold winter created the perfect conditions for dormancy, followed by a wet and hot summer that resulted in rapid growth and robust plants with the greatest number of flowering sites in recent memory – a hugely successful season for HPA and its Aussie hops.
It is these conditions that will allow Galaxy®, their most popular Aussie hop, to maintain its distinctively punchy passionfruit, juicy peach and tangy citrus characteristics. Likewise, the season has been good to HPA’s full set of high impact flavour hops that followed Galaxy®, including Enigma®, Ella™, Vic Secret™ and Eclipse®.
For 10 years, HPA has pursued capital expansion projects focused on improving varietal diversity, supply surety and product quality. The commissioning of HPA Hop Central in Myrtleford, Victoria is the final piece of this complex puzzle.
Ready to unveil in time to process crop 2025, HPA Hop Central was designed to address quality concerns associated with operating two small, aging pellet plants. Building on a $50m investment in acreage expansion, this $20m project will centralise the pelleting and packaging of every hop bale pressed at both their Victorian and Tasmanian farms. With the capacity to produce more than 50 tonnes of pellets per day, the new facility will effectively double their processing throughput.
HPA Hop Central features 100 per cent cold chain bale storage, temperature-controlled production rooms, and modern pelleting and packaging equipment. This highly efficient operation will enable HPA to significantly reduce processing time, minimise residual oxygen in the final packaging, and retain a higher percentage of total oils in the finished product, giving Aussie brewers more bang for their buck.
Current Head of Sales & Marketing Owen Johston, who will commence the role of CEO when Tim Lord retires in April 2025, says “The vision of success for crop 2025 is clear – to deliver the highest possible hop quality, with the lowest possible flavour variability.” By reducing the spread of analytical data across lots, which will translate to more consistent performance in beer, HPA is focused on giving its brewing customers one less production challenge to face.
“Centralising pelleting and packaging in a temperature-controlled environment will help us deliver on this promise and give our brewing customers even greater confidence in Aussie hops.” says Johnston.
To learn more about HPA’s investment in quality management, or to place an order for crop 2025 and beyond, visit www.hops.com.au.