First Key can help you navigate the specific agricultural, technical, market and financial aspects of your hop farm feasibility study.

As with all of our business plans, there are three core components that are specifically designed to address all the elements concerning the feasibility of your hop farm.

Market Assessment

First Key will conduct a market review to provide sufficient and appropriate evidence to enable reasonable estimates of the start-up and ultimate hop demand figures. The market assessment will target customers for your hop yard, as well as the product portfolio (e.g. varieties, whole hops vs. pellets). It will also included price, product, promotion strategies and sales program information, as well as distribution practices and regulatory considerations.

Technical Assessment

Based on the varieties of hops that can viably be grown in the region and the target market (local vs. international, direct sale to brewer vs. merchant distribution) we will develop options with respect to the scale and marketable growing practices desired by the client. Our goal is to illustrate benefits and drawbacks to the many technical options in hop yard establishment and production that can and must be tailored to your unique conditions. With direction and vision from you, we will define the critical elements related to yard and variety establishment, agronomy (seasonal practices and plant health) and yard management, and harvesting and processing.

Financial Assessment

The financial assessment provides a detailed analysis of the feasibility of the proposed project. The hop demand projections and pricing, as well as the capital requirements and operating costs from the market and technical assessments, comprise the inputs of the financial model. The financial assessment also includes the proposed source and use of the capital funds, and projected future earnings. We organize these into integrated financial statements – income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. We also provide a host of additional breakout tables and key performance indicators, such as:

  • Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
  • EBITDA margins
  • Net Present Value of the Project
  • Internal Rate of Return
  • Payback Period

If you wish, the resulting comprehensive financial model can be maintained by First Key throughout the life of your hop farm, allowing us to help you run “what if” scenarios as they arise, manage risk, make informed decisions and continue to inspire investor confidence.