New Zealand

Malteurop in New Zealand

The malting industry in New Zealand has a long history with the first malts being produced in the late 1800’s. With a global reputation for producing high quality malts, Malteurop acquired the Marton malting plant, Grain storage facilities in Ashburton and Barley Breeding Programme at Irwell in August 2008.

The 45kmt Marton Maltings, constructed in 1979, is ideally located to supply the domestic malt markets of the North and South Islands and for export shipments through the Ports of Wellington and Auckland.

With its Company assets, Malteurop New Zealand manages the whole NZ Malting Barley supply chain, from barley breeding at our laboratories at Irwell, where we develop and trial our own varieties for the group to certified seed multiplication for both our own and European barley varieties, all the way along the supply chain to commercial Malting Barley production and storage at our Marton Malthouse and Ashburton storage facility.

It is at Marton and Ashburton facilities that we centralise the North Island and South Island Malting Barley production respectively and arrange transport from the Canterbury region of the South Island to the Maltings. With this level of integration we are able to maintain traceability and identity preservation. Coupled with ISO and HACCP accreditation, this ensures the safety and security of the malt supply to the brewers.

Another benefit of our Irwell Laboratories is that we conduct ‘off-season’ barley breeding activities and trials for Malteurop’s other global operations. Being countercyclical to the northern hemisphere season, a maritime climate and with strict but workable quarantine requirements, New Zealand is seen as an ideal location for this work, thus helping to realise Malteurop’s objective of adding value along the barley-malt supply chain for our customers.Malteurop New Zealand’s Marton Malthouse produces base and coloured malts that include Pilsen, Ale, Vienna and Munich Malts from two row spring malting barleys. Packaging occurs as Bulk in truck or container, Bags in Container or individual bags packed on pallets or loose.

Malteurop New Zealand has had a long relationship with the Dominant Brewers of New Zealand across every Brewery of NZ since its arrival in NZ and as the Craft market has grown, Malteurop has been there to support this vibrant sector. The Malteurop New Zealand business is also there to support Brewers in the Pacific and to service specific technical markets in Australia and the South Eastern region of Asia.

Malteurop New Zealand: key figures

employees

1,450

days without lost-time accident @ 31st Aug 2019

sites: Marton, Ashburton and Irwell (barley breeding program)

45,000

tons of malt produced every year

Malting process

The process of making barley malt consists in 4 stages: steeping, germination, kilning and deculming.

Steeping
Germination
Kilning
Deculming

Steeping: the grain is prepared for malting and moistened. Its humidity level then goes from 15 to 45%. The steeping is carried out by immersion or by spraying water, alternating with periods of aeration. At the end of the steeping, the germ and the roots appear, called rootlets. This stage usually lasts between 30 and 45 hours.

Germination: the grain is spread on a perforated tray and continuously ventilated by thermo-regulated air. The germ develops, leading to important biochemical changes in the heart of the grain. This step can last from 3.5 to 6 days. At the end, the plumule reaches the size of the grain and the rootlets that have developed appear faded: we speak then of “green malt”.

Kilning: the green malt is transformed into malt. Thanks to heating and drying, the molecules causing bad taste are eliminated and the aromatic compounds developed. All the art of kilning lies in choosing the right "recipe". After final cooling, the malt leaves the kiln with a moisture content of 4 to 4.5%. Kilning may take up to 2 days.

Deculming: Rootlets formed during germination are removed using vibrating trays. The grain being very dry, the rootlets are easily detached. At the end of the malting, the malt is in the form of a yellow gold grain dry and brittle. It can be kept for more than one year if strict conditions of storage and hygiene are respected.

We have 3 sites in New Zealand

Marton, Ashburton and Irwell

Marton malt house

Barley grown on both the South & North Islands arrives at Marton for malting. The finished Malt product is then distributed to our customers, both Domestic and within the Asia Pacific region.

Ashburton store

Barley grown on the South Island is collected into the Ashburton store and then forwarded to Marton on the North Island for malting. The barley is transported using either rail or by sea and then road.

Irwell barley breeding station

Our research farm in New Zealand is the central hub of the Malteurop global barley breeding programme.

See details below

Barley breeding program

Our research farm in New Zealand:

The central hub of the Malteurop global barley breeding programme.

The barley breeder in conjunction with Malteurop colleagues in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand oversees a counter season programme, run by Malteurop and a network of commercial partners and collaborators. The programme has entered varieties into AMBA (American Malting Barley Association), & Barley Australia for accreditation. The programme has successfully introduced new varieties Fairview, Jimpy, Expedition, Mayflower and recently Kiwi.