In turbulent times, the supply chain rollercoaster delivers more chills than thrills. Fear not – Agrowgate partners Tim Near and David Van Wees joined Justin on the Brewbound Podcast this week to break down everything craft beverage producers need to know.
This year, harvests of oats and other grains were down, which could potentially increase costs. Some Pacific Northwest hop farmers have removed acreage of certain varieties, but hop yield declines were not “as severe as maybe would have been thought about last winter,” Near said.
“We’ve seen some of the large aroma varieties have a fairly significant reduction in acreage – Citra, Mosaic would be a couple good examples there,” he said. “We’ve also seen acreage being added back in some of the more classic bittering varieties. Columbus, Tomahawk, Zeus actually had acreage increases this year.”
One bright spot for bev-alc producers? Aluminum cans are in “ample supply,” and after last year’s record-high prices, there should be “some softening on aluminum prices, or at least some stability.”
Plus, Zoe and Jess detail the week’s news, including quarterly earnings reports from Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch InBev, Smuttynose’s parent company’s acquisition of Five Boroughs and Great Divide and Dry Dock Brewing’s new strategic partnership.
Listen to the conversation on popular podcast platforms, including Apple, Google Play and Spotify.
Send questions, feedback or ideas for the podcast to podcast@brewbound.com.