Page 147 - UNESCO_Zatec_2021_A4

construction of hop fields, and the storage of hops.
CHMELAŘSTVÍ, cooperative Žatec, is the founder of the
Hop Museum and has contributed significantly to the
foundations of the reputation of the local hop growing
heritage.

However, the area of hop fields in the region decreased
sharply for the first time in the late 1990s after changes in
the property structure of objects and production facilities,
and business relations. Also when the consumption of
a significant amount of hop production by an American
brewery was cancelled after the Czech state did not agree
to transfer the "Bud" brand. It was not possible to find
a market for such a large amount of production. Since
then, the area of hop fields increased quite noticeably, by
1904 ha, 20.4 % of the area in 1996, and by another 1818
ha (24.4 %) in 1998. In addition to the mentioned changes,
production costs also rose. The strong competitive
environment, trends, and new technologies in brewing, The interior of the "New Warehouse" with supporting concrete structures, from
as well as crisis periods with overproduction on the 1937, No. 1580, Chmelařské Square, Žatec, 2016
market, had an impact.

Since 1997, a new law on the protection of hops came costs, and labour costs rose even more, and Czech
into force in the Czech Republic. It replaced the older agriculture became part of the EU’s common agricultural
law of 1957. Act no. 97/1996 Coll. On the Protection subsidy policy, including legislative requirements.
of Hop, as amended, stabilises the liabilities in issues
of the registration of hop fields, the marking, and the From the millennium, the area only decreased, until
verification of hops during their processing and their 2013 to 4,319 ha. Subsequently, there has been a strong
circulation (more on this Act in Chapter 5.c/d). recovery due to the influence of artisanal breweries
on the market and a strong demand for Czech hops. At 147
Another significant change was the accession of the present, the area of hop fields is around five thousand
Czech Republic to the European Union in 2004, when the ha (5,003 ha in 2019), about 45–50 % of the size in the
free market, free movement of people, foreign capital, early 1990s.

Modern air-conditioned hop warehouse and packaging room with a pellet processing plant on the left, No. 2580, Mostecká Street, 2016