At Yakima Chief Hops (YCH), farming is the legacy of our growers, with some raising the next generation in the same fields where they grew up. Honoring that legacy demands that we respect the land it was cultivated on; that’s why we are committed to fostering healthier soil, cleaner water, and lower carbon emissions.

The motivation for carbon reporting comes from holding ourselves accountable and taking a hard look at how our actions ripple through the environment, the lands we love, and the world we’ll leave for future farmers, brewers, and beer lovers. From a business perspective, climate adaptation is no longer a “nice to have,” it’s a core issue that determines resilience and competitiveness in the face of climate shocks.

Carbon Reporting for Science-Backed Insights

We’ve been reporting our corporate footprint since 2011, but didn’t really understand its full scope until we partnered with Zevero, a team of experts who specialize in turning carbon data into actionable strategies. When it comes to carbon reporting potential, Zevero has helped us better understand our footprint’s cause and effect by providing a level of granularity. Together, we catalogued emissions across Scope 1 (direct operations), Scope 2 (energy use), and Scope 3 (everything up and down the supply chain). Scope 3 can be the most challenging, but it holds the biggest opportunities for improvement. Tackling Scope 3 emissions allows us to work closely with our supply chain partners, from our family farms all the way through packaging suppliers and logistics partners.

“Carbon reporting isn’t just about transparency; it’s the foundation for action. Without knowing the footprint, we can’t meaningfully reduce it,” says Levi Wyatt, YCH’s Corporate Social Responsibility Manager. “It allows us to see clearly where we stand, where the risks lie, and where we can make meaningful improvements that benefit not only our business, but also our customers and communities.”

Zevero Sustainability Team

Zevero UK Team

From Zevero’s perspective, carbon accounting is essential for making sustainability actionable across the industry. You can’t reduce what you don’t measure, and having supplier-specific emissions data enables real change across high-impact areas like agriculture, packaging, and transportation. “Carbon accounting makes sustainability real,” says Zevero Co-Founder and Chief Sustainability Officer, Ben Richardson, “We offer brewers and suppliers a clear way to track their footprint, see what’s going well, and where change is possible.”

It’s not just about emissions either; smarter, lower-carbon practices often improve overall quality, yield, and cost. With climate risks, regulatory pressure, and rising costs already impacting the beer industry, carbon accounting can help brewers stay resilient. Ultimately, when every purchase decision becomes a climate decision, the industry can drive toward a more sustainable future.

From Flavor to Footprint: How Zevero Supports Impact 

Hops have long shaped the character and flavor of beer, but hops can also shape how the brewing industry responds to climate change. The choices brewers make, especially around responsible sourcing, influence the resilience of hop growers, the stability of operations, and the trust of beer consumers. Looking ahead together as an industry, carbon accounting can become a shared roadmap for progress. Imagine the impact if we aligned around a few commitments:

  • Product-level Transparency: All major inputs carry standardized footprints for fair comparison.
  • Smarter Carbon Management: Low-carbon practices become the norm, with higher-impact options available when they’re essential.
  • Agricultural Innovation: Breweries and suppliers co-invest in practices like fertilizer efficiency, water stewardship, and renewable energy.

Turning Insights into Action

The information we collect at YCH doesn’t just sit on a spreadsheet; it drives strategic action. For instance, we identified approximately 1,500 metric tons of CO₂e linked to our use of non-renewable sources. This revealed an opportunity to cut those emissions by transitioning to our renewable energy through our Purchase Power Agreements.

YCH continues to use our carbon emissions information to help us with our renewable energy transition. For example, by doubling our commitment to solar energy with the Belgium facility’s solar array coming online, we have nearly doubled our renewable energy generation. In 2025, we have already generated over 929,000 kWh of solar energy, which is over an 8% increase from last year.

Our Decarbonization journey is far from over, but it's the incremental changes, like shifting how we source energy, that create meaningful ripple effects across our business and the breweries we serve.

The key takeaway? Measuring emissions creates a strategic roadmap. It guides us to where we can make the biggest impact, unlock cost savings, and deliver sustainability wins throughout our entire supply chain.

How Can Breweries Get Started?

We know resources are tight, time is valuable, and we all want to make the most of our efforts, but you don’t need a team of carbon scientists to start making an impact. Starting and growing sustainability programs is never easy, and we know that firsthand. What we’ve learned is that when decisions are grounded in solid data and driven by people who care, the results are real. You build resilience, you cut costs, and you make it simpler for your customers to align with a business that takes responsibility seriously.

Here are some recommendations for initiating a carbon accounting strategy:

Start Small: Even basic energy use, transportation, and packaging data can highlight opportunities. Track what you can and stay consistent.

Engage Locally: Lean into your utility providers for information to access data points and open conversations for energy programs that may be available.

Big Picture: Scope 1 and 2 are easier to track, but don’t ignore Scope 3. We have found that suppliers, ingredients, and distribution often hold the largest footprint and the most opportunity for collaboration.

Recover Savings: Recover and reuse CO2 produced during fermentation. This reduces your carbon footprint and the costs associated with purchasing CO2.

Partner When Possible: Collaborating with specialists can help you avoid blind spots and accelerate meaningful reductions. Options to explore: Circular Ecology and the Brewers Association’s Benchmarking Tool.

Focus on Wins: Energy efficiency, packaging changes, and logistics improvements often save money while cutting emissions.

Create the Culture: When your team understands why it matters, sustainability becomes part of daily decision-making rather than a separate project.

Our growers lead with care for the land, and we are taking that same mindset in how we approach carbon. Because at the end of the day, this work goes beyond regulations and efficiency, it’s about making sure our farms, our industry, and the wild places we love can thrive into the future.

We can’t do this alone. Collaboration is key, and we love to partner with our brewery and supply chain partners to take steps toward a lower-carbon future. Together, we can make sustainability the way we all do business.