38 BREWING & BEVERAGE INDUSTRIES BUSINESS www.muntons.com For more information visit: In 1819 a Rev Dr John Chevalier from Debenham in Suffolk, selected the seeds from an ear of particularly fine barley, and sowed them. So good were the results that he carried on propagating, and it wasn’t long before a new variety known for its excellent malting qualities had been created. It was named after him. For the following hundred years, Chevallier barley malt was revered for the quality of the beers it produced – and was the main type used for brewing in England. It took until the 1920s for it to be superseded by other varieties. Now it is back again. Scientists at the John Innes Centre recently revived the Victorian variety, starting with just a handful of seeds, producing a small crop and repeating the process. The work took place as part of a project to improve contemporary barley, especially disease resistance, by looking at past varieties. Historic records showed Chevallier to produce good yields – and premium quality malt. With the support of Crisp Maltings, propagation continued beyond the initial research. The Crisp team worked with Dr Chris Ridout of New Heritage Barley and a handful of Norfolk farmers prepared to take on the responsibility of reviving the variety. By 2014 a 20 tonne crop of barley was produced. Five tonnes were malted by Crisp on its traditional floor maltings and the balance was reserved as seed for further regeneration. The process was repeated in 2015 and 2016, each time allowing more of the precious grain to be allocated to malting and brewing. Says Dr David Griggs of Crisp Maltings, “Yes, this is an exciting project for historians, crop scientists, farmers, maltsters and brewers. But it also holds appeal for any curious drinker. “The revival of Chevallier provides an opportunity for people to sample authentic tastes of the Victorian era. “Brewers are researching old brewing recipes and using them to reproduce, or play tunes with, flavours of the past. Opportunities associated with Chevallier Heritage Malt are many and varied – and we’re finding brewers keen to push boundaries with the help of history.” First selected in 1819, back again in 2017 Muntons is sixth in Sunday Times list In the recently published Sunday Times Profit Track 100 list, Muntons - the Stowmarket-based malt and malted ingredient manufacturer - was placed in sixth position, the highest placed company in the East Anglian region. The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 league table ranks Britain’s 100 private companies with the fastest-growing profits over their latest three years, is compiled by Fast Track and published as a supplement in The Sunday Times in April each year. Alan Ridealgh, Muntons Managing Director, on hearing of the placement, commented: “It is gratifying to see such prestigious recognition of the results of our work. Much of our success comes from our environmentally conscientious approach to business and follows from our investments in initiatives designed to ensure the sustainability of our company. “Muntons is a little unique. We are a family-owned UK manufacturer, one that uses locally grown malting barley from which we make malt and malted ingredients and subsequently export to 76 countries around the globe.” Muntons has a clear sustainability strategy which it believes has helped to contribute towards its profit growth success: ‘Invest green savings in green initiatives and continue to look to mitigate risk in the most environmentally and cost effective way possible. Production will increase but our relative carbon footprint must decrease. Projects promoting sustainability and efficiency that have a payback better than three years are prioritised and fast tracked for capital investment.’ News INGREDIENTS www.crispmalt.co For more information visit: 38_Layout 1 16/05/2017 14:37 Page 1