Simpsons Malt Limited, the fifth-generation family malting and merchanting business, has entered into a long-term service agreement with Yaregrain, a premium storage and processing facility for combinable crops in the heart of Norfolk.
The agreement will see Simpsons Malt store 6,500 tonnes of malting barley at the Cantley site, all of which will have been grown by local farmers.
Yaregrain was recently the subject of a £1.9 million investment, and the site now encompasses an advanced processing unit, state-of-the-art barley driers and a colour sorter.
After storage post-harvest, the malting barley will make the short, 30-mile journey to the company’s Tivetshall St Margaret Maltings, where it will be processed into high-quality malts for breweries in the UK and Ireland, food companies and a network of global distributors.
Tivetshall St Margaret Maltings
Adrian Fisher, Simpsons Malt Southern Supply Chain Manager, said: “Simpsons Malt has been receiving malting barley from Yaregrain for several years, meeting all demands required, and we’re delighted that this experience has led to the decision to make a long-term commitment to storage at the facility.
“This will benefit us as our Tivetshall St Margaret Maltings requires a range of malting barley varieties to produce our extensive range of high-quality malts and the ability to store these by grade and variety is incredibly important.
“Securing the storage at Yaregrain is also part of our ongoing commitment to the malting barley supply chain in East Anglia and will enable us to promptly move growers’ malting barley during this and future harvests.”
Nick Hood, Farmer Chairman, added: “Closer integration between farmer, central store and consumer must be a good thing and it is a great moment to celebrate achieving our core objective of selling all of our available storage capacity.”
Andrew Dewing, Yaregrain Managing Director, added: “We are delighted to welcome Simpsons Malt as a store member and this agreement will enable us to complete our planned building project.”