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At Yakima Chief Hops, our culture is built on a foundation of continuous improvement to provide our customers with the highest quality hop products and promote environmentally sustainable practices throughout all operations.
Our entire organization is guided by well-established quality and safety principles as well as invaluable feedback from all our hop growers, employees and brewing customers. Our purpose is to create, grow and protect value for all by developing first-class hop varieties, relentlessly pursuing quality and building meaningful relationships.
LEAN
MANUFACTURING
Our production facilities in Yakima and Sunnyside, Washington, operate using the principles of Lean Manufacturing, which empower more than 80 front-line personnel to affect changes that reduce waste and improve quality and consistency. Team members have received extensive training in Lean Manufacturing and Kaizen process-improvement methods.
QUALITY
MANAGEMENT
Yakima Chief Hops was an early adopter of ISO 9001 in 1997, and the first hop company to implement an ISO 14001 certified environmental management system in 2010 to specify, control and provide for continuous improvement in the way we work throughout our business. By actively applying these internationally recognized principles, we have developed quality and environmental management systems certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards.
FOOD
SAFETY
In order to prevent contamination that could pose a threat to human health, Yakima Chief Hops is fully committed to a risk-based approach to assessing, improving and teaching food safety at all hop harvest and production facilities. We do this by applying our Green Chief® farm quality management program and Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMP) in compliance with the US Food and Drug Administration. We also employ an ISO-integrated Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system for all areas of production.
perfecting our
passion for hops
The rigorous standards we set for ourselves are guided by certification programs that have helped ensure quality, safety and responsibility for generations. We are proud to consistently maintain these established principles.
QUALITY
ISO 9001
Assuring quality is a challenge in any industry, but when you are responsible for growing, processing and delivering a food product from many different farms, your quality management systems (QMS) have to be exceptional.
Meeting ISO 9001 standards requires dedicated cooperation across all departments. The certification verifies our commitment to providing products and services that satisfy our customers’ needs, and continually improving our processes.
Our quality management principles include customer-focused leadership and evidence-based decision-making driven by internal audit teams and brewer feedback programs.
About iso
The International Organization for Standardization, ISO, is an independent, non-governmental membership organization and the world’s largest developer of voluntary international standards in relation to products, services and systems. These internationally recognized, market relevant standards pertain to a wide range of industries, including technology, food safety, agriculture and healthcare.
As a globally recognized set of standards for quality, safety and efficiency, ISO certifications are instrumental in facilitating international trade. They offer many technological, economic and social benefits, including cost savings, waste reduction, increased productivity and enhanced customer satisfaction. For consumers, ISO certifications provide the necessary assurance to know that products produced by an ISO facility are safe, efficient and good for the environment.
All requests to review ISO 9001-2015 Quality Manual can be made by emailing quality@yakimachief.com.
ISO 14001 CERTIFICATION ENVIRONMENTAL
ISO 14001
Wasting resources is not only expensive, it’s wrong. ISO 14001 supplies the methods to control air pollution, water and sewage issues, waste management, soil contamination, climate change mitigation and resource efficiency.
All requests to review ISO 14001-2015 Environmental Manual can be made by emailing quality@yakimachief.com.
FOOD GRADE & HEALTH
ARE HOPS GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GMO)?
The document below details our compliance with applicable US and EU food safety standards, so let us cut to the chase: Yakima Chief Hops products are all-natural, GMO-free ingredients produced from healthy hops, grown and manufactured without the use of synthetic or artificial additives or methods.
All of our hops are developed using traditional breeding methods without deliberate, specific modification of the DNA by molecular cloning.
FOOD SAFETY SYSTEM CERTIFICATION 22000
FOOD GRADE & HEALTH CERTIFICATIONS
- Food Grade & Health Certificate (English)
- Food Grade & Health Certificate (International)
- Food Grade & Health Certificate (Portuguese)
- Food Grade & Health Certificate (Spanish)
FOOD PROCESSING PLANT LICENSES
- Sunnyside, WA (520 E South Hill Rd)
- Sunnyside, WA (555 W South Hill Rd)
- Yakima, WA (204 Division St)
FOOD GRADE-EXTRACTION PROCESS
KOSHER & HALAL CERTIFICATIONS
All Yakima Chief Hops whole leaf hop, hop pellet and hop extract products are certified Kosher Parve and Halal Suitable. Our production facilities in Yakima and Sunnyside, Washington pursue annual certification, meaning they meet specific, comprehensive requirements in the production, monitoring and processing of all aspects of agricultural production from farm to consumer.
ORGANIC CERTIFICATES
YCH purchases Organic Hops directly from Certified Organic growers. It takes a lot of dedication of labor, time and resources to produce quality organic hops. Organic growers have to follow USDA requirements and go through inspections of the field and picking facilitates. Growing requires more labor for weed control and alternate means of pest control.
YCH goes through WSDA inspections at all facilities for our certification. Producing organic products requires strict procedures for cleaning, which means more labor and production time. In accordance with USDA Organic Regulations, this certification ensures that no chemicals were used on any products labeled as Organic and enforces efforts to maintain the natural environment so you can receive a natural product.