Beer as we know it is in danger. It seems an exaggerated statement, but the data is worrying. In Belgium, the window of time in which their famous beers of spontaneous fermentation has been reduced by more than 20 days in a century.
In the countryside, cereal crops suffer from drought and high temperatures. The worst estimates announce collected up to 38% lower in the Czech Republic or Germany.
Hops, a key ingredient, also suffers this via crucis. “Germany, which concentrates 40% of the world’s hop production, in 2022 had a 28% lower yield and 50% worse quality,” he explains. Ines SagrarioCEO of Ekonoke, a startup dedicated to agriculture.
Nothing seems to indicate that behind the facade of an industrial warehouse is this company that can save hops and that was born from the ‘match’ between two other companies. Ana Sáez and Inés Sagrario, cousins and entrepreneurs, had a company growing sustainable vegetables; Javier Ramiro and Antonio Rojas, another of microgreens, small plants of no more than five centimeters.
Separately they did not work, but in 2018 they talked and liked each other. A year later they decided join both projects. “There was a feeling at the level of the things we wanted to do,” explains Inés.