The folks at Lupulin Exchange looked at brewers’ conversations about the availability of hops and thought, “We could fix that with some cool software.”
What StubHub is for tickets, or AirBnB for spare rooms, Lupulin Exchange–LEx for short–is for hops. If you need extra hops, you can search for them on LEx and buy them from someone who has extra. If you have extra hops from an order, you can sell them on LEx to someone who suddenly needs them.
It’s a great example of how a company listened to people’s problems and sought a solution. That’s what we should all strive to do no matter what industry we’re in.
It’s also raises interesting question about the future of hops. You wouldn’t expect a plant produced for an industry that values organic, sustainable ingredients to benefit much from the digital world, but LEx actually helps hops move while they’re still fresh, meaning more of the hops being grown are actually being used to brew.
With over 7,000 licenses approved by the TTB, we’re likely to continue seeing hop supply issues–unless companies like LEx continue to find creative ways to address them.
LEx, of course, is another example of that funny digital middle space where a software company enables transactions between individuals. LEx isn’t a hop broker any more than uber is a cab company. Like uber or AirBnB, LEx thrives on a pleasant user-interface and convenient features such as their Hop Alerts.
To learn how LEx has avoided the usual controversy about digital services, read my write-up on CraftBrewingBusiness.com.
