Growers are the Core of Yakima Chief Hops
Yakima Chief Hops is a 100% grower-owned global hop supplier with a mission to connect brewers around the world with our family hop farms in the Pacific Northwest.
Generations of Experience
Our grower owners and their family hop farms are as unique as the varieties they cultivate, each having their own history, traditions, and personalities. We strive to embrace and share these unique stories with the brewing community, as our customers remember each farm for their own distinct qualities. Many of our growers have been on their farms for multiple generations, and we take pride in the connections made each year with dedicated brewers.
Our Roots
Meet the Growers
Return-to-Grower: Investing in Quality
Return-to-Grower (RTG) is the monetary amount given back to farms for the sale of their hops. Yakima Chief Hops is keenly focused on returning as much value to the farm as possible. We are proud to lead the industry with one of the highest RTG rates.
As a grower-owned company, we know that to cultivate and harvest high-quality hops, growers must have the resources to maintain, improve, and expand their fields and facilities. This starts with a strong, sustainable return, allowing growers to make critical investments in people, land, infrastructure, and farming practices that lead to consistently high-quality hops.
Green Chief®: Quality Begins in the Field
Green Chief® is our best practices program coordinated in partnership with Yakima Chief Ranches. Our pioneering grower-owners created the Green Chief® internal farm quality and sustainability management program in 2008 as a collaborative effort to achieve long-term goals in a day-to-day farm operations.
Over the years, Green Chief® has expanded to include both allied and grower-owners, collaborating on environmentally and socially responsible solutions.
Yakima Chief Ranches: Breeding the Best Hops for Better Brewing
Yakima Chief Ranches serves as the breeding arm of Yakima Chief Hops. A partner in Hop Breeding Company (HBC), Yakima Chief Ranches strives to create, grow, and protect value for all through the development of first-class hop varieties, a relentless pursuit of quality, and meaningful relationships.
Yakima Chief Ranches is dedicated to breeding experimental hop varieties that focus on efficiency, unique aroma profiles, and responsible agronomics, creating commercial hop brands that provide value for growers and brewers alike.
Footprints®: Where the Rubber Meets the Rows
Footprints® is the comprehensive brand management program for Yakima Chief Ranches. Focusing on best practices, responsible agronomy, trials, and data collection to ensure the highest level of value.
The Footprints® team provides growers with top-quality virus-free plants, lab verified to be true-to-type and pure varietal.