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Yakima Chief Hops Honored with David & Patricia Giuliani Clean Energy Entrepreneur Award
January 15, 2026
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YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima Chief Hops (YCH), a 100% grower-owned global supplier, has received the prestigious David & Patricia Giuliani Clean Energy Entrepreneur Award at the Clean & Prosperous Washington “Future of Carbon Policy Forum,” held Jan. 8, 2026, in recognition of its Carbon Footprint Reduction Plan and pioneering adoption of CO2 recovery technology.
The annual award, presented by Clean & Prosperous Washington, celebrates companies making significant advances in clean energy innovation. Yakima Chief Hops was among three finalists, joined by Helion and Sila Nanotechnologies, for its work in driving decarbonization and economic opportunity statewide.
Earlier this year, Yakima Chief Hops received nearly $1.86 million from Washington State’s Clean Energy Community Grants Program to implement a CO2 recovery system at its Sunnyside facility. The new system will capture about 1,600 tons of CO2 annually, recycle it into beverage-grade liquid CO2 for hop extraction, and reduce overall CO2 emissions by 50%.
Yakima Chief Hops is the first U.S. hop company to implement this advanced technology dating back to the CO2 recovery system installed in 2019, setting a benchmark for sustainable innovation in agriculture. The new CO2 recovery system being added will further reduce Yakima Chief Hps' carbon footprint and benefit rural communities in the Yakima Valley by decreasing emissions after implementation, while maintaining the same production level that supports the region’s strong agricultural economy.
Chief Operations Officer Karl Vanevenhoven and Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility & Regulatory Compliance Art Ortega attended the forum and accepted the award on behalf of Yakima Chief Hops.
“Innovating to develop projects that have both economic and environmental impacts has been a career-long joy for me. I like to refer to that as ‘Business Sustainability’. YCH winning the David & Patricia Giuliani Clean Energy Entrepreneur Award, which recognizes the dedication and resources that Yakima Chief Hops has invested in sustainability projects, marks a high point in my career. It's an incredible honor,” says Vanevenhoven.
Yakima Chief Hops is headquartered in Yakima, Washington, with production facilities in Sunnyside, Washington. The company employs 251 people in the Yakima Valley, where hops are a major agricultural product. The company is owned by family hop farms in the Pacific Northwest and is the leading producer of hops in North America.
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Yakima Chief Hops
YCH is a 100% grower-owned global hop supplier with a mission to connect brewers with family hop farms. https://www.yakimachief.com/
Contact:
Toni Lynn Adams
Communications Manager