FOREWORD

We are pleased to publish the 2003 edition of Guidelines for Hop Buying. The data in this report reflect the latest information on the international hop market as well as a summary of recent events.

The disastrous result of the 2003 crop in Germany has already made this year one of the most challenging for the hops and brewing industries. We look forward to working together with you to overcome these issues.

We trust that our report is informative and useful for your present and future hop-buying decisions. We would be pleased to answer any questions that you have concerning the information presented in the following pages.

September/October 2003
S.S. Steiner, Inc.
Simon H. Steiner, Hopfen, GmbH
Steiner Hops Limited
Steiner Asia Limited