Although the barley yields in Europe are lower by 40%, Croatian brewers say they have enough quantities secured.
Although dry weather and hot temperatures in northern Europe are creating problems for beer producers, Croatian brewers say there is no fear. It is expected that this year the yield of barley fields in Europe will be low, which is worrying since it is the most important raw material in beer production. Bloomberg says that in Scandinavia, northern Germany and the Baltic states the yield is 30 to 40 percent lower than in other years, reports Poslovni.hr on August 14, 2018.
Heineken Croatia and its Karlovačko brand use the barley malt made of 100 percent of Croatian barley. They point out that barley malt, along with water, hop and yeast, is the main ingredient in beer production. They have a successful cooperation with the Nova Gradiška Agricultural Complex, the Slavonia Slad company, and the Agricultural Institute Osijek.
“According to the information we have received from our partners, the production of beer barley in Croatia is not experiencing problems which torment producers in some of the northern and central European countries. In the period crucial for the ripening of barley, temperatures in Croatia were not as high. A small decline in production due to weather conditions is not significant because last year was a record-breaking one. Therefore there will be enough of our local, high-quality barley for our Karlovačko brand,” said Heineken Croatia.
Although estimates by RMI Analytics, which advises brewers in Europe, show that this year there will be a shortage of about 490,000 tons of barley, Zagrebačka Pivovara has a network of domestic and foreign suppliers and thus is leaving nothing to chance. The company says they regularly follow national and international trends connected with the yields of essential ingredients for beer production and therefore they plan well ahead.
“When it comes to the procurement of barley, Zagrebačka Pivovara has a network of Croatian and international suppliers so that it always has the option of selecting the quality and prices in accordance with our standards. For the forthcoming period, we have already secured enough barley from a Croatian supplier”, said the company.
In order to bring together barley producers, Karlovačka Pivovara has established the Karlovačko Barley Producers Club, which seeks to foster partnership among all the stakeholders in the production chain and contribute to the increase in yield and quality of barley, thereby increasing the competitiveness of the producers. For now, the barley from Croatian fields is used only for the Karlovačko brand, since Heineken is a global producer which has a recognizable recipe of its own. The company says that the local barley is precisely the reason why Karlovačko stands out in the Croatian beer market.
Translated from Poslovni.hr (reported by Marta Duić).
