2020: The Year of the Pivot for Skagit Valley Malting

by Skagit Valley Malting

2020 will be remembered by many as the year of the pivot. As challenges presented themselves, we adapted, pivoted, and overcame. We went into the year with high hopes of smashing our numbers from our 2019 Year-End and ended the year with new ideas and strategies to continue to support our customers, growers, and goals.

2020 Accomplishments

• Announced our Salmon-Safe Malt Program with the addition of two of our growers getting Salmon-Safe certification
• Launched our Webstore to offer products direct to homebrewers, including 5lbs bags that better fit their way of purchasing
• Built out a Gluten-Free product line by retrofitting a machine to handle Millet and standardizing our SOP to hit numbers for FDA approval
• Donated 43,390lbs of malt to be made into hand sanitizer
• Donated Oregon-grown Wintmalt Pale to be used in beers benefitting the Oregon Brewers Guild
• Sponsored Washington Pint Day to support the Washington Brewers Guild
• Pushed towards deeper ties with the Craft Malt Guild with 8 customers joining the guild and becoming Craft Malt Certified
• Further developed our Talisman Barley line by adding True British Ale
• Collaborated with 20 breweries in San Diego to launch and build our footprint in the market
• Created and developed staff sensory training to increase base knowledge during state-mandated lockdowns
• Learned the ins and outs of Instagram Live while shipping over 500 sample bags of Smoked and Peated malt to build a unique experience with our friends at Westland Distilling

While no one knows what 2021 will bring, we are confident that the lessons we learned this year, the new products and lines we were able to build, will offer us a strong year and provide more value to our customers.

We also have some incredible projects that we can’t quite announce yet, but they include new varieties, grains, and collaborations! Let’s do this 2021!