Yakima, Washington grows about 75 percent of the U.S. hop crop each year. That accounts for roughly 25 percent of the world’s annual crop. Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) is opening a distribution warehouse in Brossard, Quebec on the south shore of Montreal in the summer of 2023. The new facility will hold over one thousand pallets of hops, create four new jobs, and make YCH the largest hop supplier in Canada.

“This is a huge turning point for the whole Canadian brewing industry. I’m excited for our brewers. Long-term customers have been asking for this, now all current and future customers will be able to get the best quality hops on the market at a great price, in a timely manner” says Luc Beaulieu, Director of Sales Canada.

Canadian customers can look forward to making purchases in Canadian dollars and seeing shipping times drop down from a week or more to just one to three days.

All YCH brands, including Cryo™, extracts, and NZ Hops, will be available to pick up or ship from the new facility. The premium hop hub will be poised to serve Quebec, Ontario, all the Maritime provinces, and Manitoba.

“This is a direct manifestation of our mission,” says Ryan Hopkins, CEO. “We are dedicated to connecting our family of hop growers to brewers all over the world. Staging this shipping hub for our eastern Canadian brewers, it demonstrates our dedication to that mission.”

Onsite construction will begin in April, adding refrigeration systems for exceptional cold storage ability. In September, the space will be fully operational, and as harvest gets underway, 2023 crop-year hops will be available for shipment. Beaulieu adds, “It has been a long and arduous journey making it to this launch, but we have been inspired by what a positive impact this will have for our customers.”

SOURCE: Washington Beer Blog