NZ Hops Co-Op growers have always prided themselves on quality, but a new programme introduced by NZ Hops Ltd formalises those professional standards, ensuring only the best hops make it to market.
Hopmark™ focuses on measuring the quality of hops and the farming practices employed to grow them.
Andrew Sutherland of Oast House Hops is the chair of the NZ Hops Ltd Hopmark™ committee. He says the new programme “holds our growers to account”.
“It’s about increasing the transparency and holding us growers to account for the quality of the hops that we supply and our farming and picking practises.”
He said grower focus on excellence is long-standing but hasn’t always been adequately communicated to buyers. In an ultra-competitive hop market, it’s add-on that tells customers they can buy from NZ Hops Ltd with confidence.
The four aspects of the programme are quality, processing, sustainability, and compliance.
Quality is about aroma and colour, with batches sampled and scored to ensure all the hops meet the standard. Hops also need to have minimal levels of leaf and stalk, a certain level of oils and moisture, all factors aligned with the highest quality hops.
Farms must ensure harvest practices are up to standard — from clean equipment to staff training on relevant quality and food safety elements.
NZ Hops Ltd is piloting a scorecard that looks at fertiliser, water and chemical use. A practical demonstration of this all hops must now be strung with biodegradable string.
Growers must also keep up to date with their GAP (good agricultural practice) accreditation.
Hops that fall short are rejected while on the flip side, the highest scoring farmers over the rolling three-year period can use the term “master grower”.
“I think there’s real integrity to it,” Sutherlands says. “By putting Hopmark™ out to the world and explaining what we’re doing, it’s available to people to enquire and hold us to account for those standards. This is part of completing the circle and demonstrating to the world our commitment to quality.”
NZ Hops Ltd, distributed by Bintani.
