U.S. Barley Representatives Travel To China, Meet With Top Importers, Craft Beer Stakeholders

China, the country with the world’s largest beer industry, is dominated by large producers making typical lager-styled beers. However, there is also a relatively small but growing craft beer industry emerging. Last week, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) sent a team to China to learn about demand and consumption trends in its beer market, attend the Craft Beer Conference and Expo (CBCE) and further develop and strengthen relationships between U.S. suppliers and Chinese malt/barley importers. The CBCE is the largest event of its kind in China.

The primary constraint of U.S. malted barley exports to China is that local craft brewers are not aware of the import opportunities, nor the overall production and marketing systems, for U.S. malted barley. The Council is focused on providing market information and assessing opportunities for U.S. barley malt producers to supply Chinese craft beer industry customers.

“China has become a significant export market for barley in recent years, and we believe that U.S. barley/malt are well-positioned to compete in the burgeoning craft beer sector in China,” said Manuel Sanchez, USGC director in China.

While in China, the team met with top barley importers in addition to making presentations at the CBCE’s technical symposium. Sanchez offered an overview of the Council’s malt program before handing the program over to the mission’s members, including Nathan Boll, USGC barley sector director and chairman of the North Dakota Barley Council; Jared Strober CEO of Two Track Malting, LLC in North Dakota; and Matthew Horlacher, CEO of Cold Stream Malt and Grain Co. in Washington. Topics covered in their presentations included how to customize malt for brewers; new malt varieties and technology; and U.S. barley planting, breeding and varieties.

“I really didn’t know what to expect when preparing for this trip, but after meeting with several different Chinese companies and seeing the excitement and interest in U.S. barley and malt, I firmly believe there is a huge potential for the barley sector in China,” Boll said.

By attending CBCE and meeting with important barley players in the country, the Council hopes the craft brewing industry stakeholders in China have an improved understanding of the U.S. barley and barley malt industry, in addition to generating sales of U.S. malting barley to more breweries in China.

“USGC’s presentations received a lot of engagement from the audience,” said Caleb Floss, USGC manager of global programs. “There was a lively Q&A session after presentations had concluded, and it was apparent that the concept of high-quality ingredients make better craft beer resonated with the conference attendees.”