New Zealand: Hop market up 17% last year

New Zealanders may be re-discovering their taste for beer. And renewing that love affair is helping a valuable local industry, The New Zealand Herald reported on March 6.

Hops are enjoying strong interest from brewing companies and investors alike thanks to New Zealand's ability to grow a wide variety of them, offer organic varieties, and maintain a vigorous co-operatively owned industry body.

Hop growing has been part of New Zealand's primary sector for almost 150 years, and today the robust sector is riding on the back of strong consumer interest in craft beers.

This sector of the beer market has grown 17 per cent in the past year, driving the 3.7 per cent increase in overall beer sales. Craft beer now comprises 14 per cent of total beer sales in New Zealand.

Hops are integral to give beer its flavour and character, and the Tasman district has about 420 ha of land in hops, with expectations it may reach 600 ha by 2020, and worth NZ$30 million.

New Zealand Hops Limited reported a harvest of 750 metric tonnes from 400 hectares in 2016, with 85 per cent of the crop destined for export with the majority forward sold on a contract basis.

Analysis by ANZ indicates there are strong comparative returns growing hops in the Tasman region relative to other land uses including grapes, kiwifruit and pip-fruit.

This is reinforced by a research culture in hops that extends over 60 years, based around the Riwaka Plant and Food Research team.

It has meant the industry has been able to develop some unique flavoured hops like the "Riwaka" hop bred through the "hops with a difference" programme at Plant and Food's research centre.

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