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Pink Hops

Women, agriculture, innovation and a very special plant

 

“Hops? What are they? I want to farm them too.” When Anna saw hops for the first time on a trip to Slovenia, her curiosity was pricked and the experience planted the seed of an idea to start farming a crop with apparent similarities to grapevines, already a part of her family heritage. In fact, when she inherited the farm in 2018 following the death of its founding father, grandmother Anna chose to diversify 

production and introduce the cultivation of hops, a crop that could be farmed largely using mechanized means and one that does not require a large exertion of physical energy. Her three daughters and two grandchildren joined with her to form the first farm company composed of three generations of Italian women to grow hops.

Currently 98% of the hops used in Italy are imported from Germany and the United States, the world’s largest producers. “The company philosophy is a social one, with a female perspective focused on valuing the local area,” explains the progenitor of these female digital farmers. Their approach has enabled the cooperative to develop transversal projects for processing hops, like the production of the first beer to be brewed using fresh ‘made in Italy’ hops and essential oil for use in herbal medicines and gastronomy.

This greener, more digital form of agriculture aims to rise to the challenge of environmental sustainability in line with the roadmap plotted by the European New Green Deal that outlines a reduced use of pesticides and fertilizers, the reuse of waste matter, a rationalization of water use and an increase in biodiversity, in addition to the deployment of new technologies.

(2020 – 2022)

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