Episode 151: Finding Your Hoppy Place Through Challenging Times [with Dave Hayward from A Hoppy Place]

Times are tough for brewers, retailers, hospitality and supply chain businesses at the moment.  Raw materials, chemicals, packaging costs and even blue roll has increased exponentially in price.  And that's not even to mention business rates, taxation and the like.In a recent blog post, Steve Dunkley of Manchester's Beer Nouveau reported that no less than 47 breweries have closed in 2022.  Similarly, various announcements from community pubs, beloved craft beer bars and bottle shops have come thick and fast, sometimes with several announcements in one day.In this week's episode, we're joined by bar and bottle shop owner Dave Hayward from Windsor and Maidenhead's A Hoppy Place to reflect on the issues for beer businesses during these challenging times.  We also discuss tips for brewers looking to sell to independent venues such as his, how pinning your values to the mast is a double-edged sword, and how building a strong community around your brewery or bar creates an asset that no amount of money can buy.We're also joined by Technical Director Will Rogers of Charles Faram & Co to chat about how brewers can save money with their hop usage, while still creating world class beers with great flavour.THIS WEEK'S EPISODE OF THE PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Charles Faram & CoCharles Faram have been hop factors and merchants since 1865 and hop growers for even longer than that.  While importing a vast catalogue of international hops, they have also developed their own varieties through their Hop Development Program set up to create wildly different aromas and flavours whilst also working closely with growers to produce varieties with good yields and disease resistance.Every year a new class of plants are set off on their journey, involving disease assessments, aroma assessments, plot and brewing trials, to get from 10,000 individual variety seedlings to one super successful variety for commercial release.  The Faram’s Family range brings to you Archer®, Emperor™, Godiva™, Harlequin®, Jester®, Most™ (pronounced Moss-t – it’s Czech for bridge), Mystic™, Olicana®, and Opus™.They stock nitrogen flushed leaf hops, Type 90 pellets and T45 pellets; and - to ensure their hops remain in optimum condition - they have state of the art cold stores at their sites in Worcestershire in the UK and Yakima in the USA, with their Yakima site being a staging point for quality checks and the safe journey of US hops to the UKCharles Faram are fully committed to providing quality hops to customers at home and around the globe through their Well-hopped quality program.Did you know that they also supply yeast, malt, fruit purees and other brewing products?  Get one delivery and one invoice.  The full range and product specifications can be found on their website charlesfaram.co.uk.If you would like more information or expert advice on the different uses, applications and recipes, one of their Technical Advisors will be really happy to help.  Visit charlesfaram.co.uk for more detailsNotes:All brand varieties are British and grown in Herefordshire and Worcestershire except for Most™ which is Czech.Charles Faram have site in the US (Charles Faram Inc), Canada (Charles Faram Brewing Supplies Inc.), and Poland (Charles Faram Europe).Partners in Charles Faram's portfolio (but aren't limited to):Fermentis – yeast / Crisp – malt and malt extracts / Weyermann® - speciality malt and malt extracts / Murphy & Son – Brewing aids / Rankin Brothers & Sons – Closures / Totally Natural Solutions – Hop products and non-hop flavouringshttps://www.charlesfaram.co.uk/Follow Hop Forward on Social MediaFacebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn