Let’s eat some beer!
Their brewing trials in college took a different turn when they paid attention to not just the end product, but also what was getting left out of the party. This is the story of ReGrained– a venture that uses the spent grain from beer making and turns into all things good. Over Skype, I spoke to Dan Kurzrock about re-graining and his thoughts on food waste.
Let’s eat some beer!
They are the “Executive Grain Officer” and “Chief Grainmaster” in ReGrained, but co-founders Dan Kurzrock and Jordan Schwartz have been friends for a long time. In college, they took to homebrewing as a hobby. Little did they know then that a venture was just round the corner. “We noticed that even if we were just brewing say about 5 gallons of beer, we would land up using 20-30 pounds of grain. It felt like we were making a giant vat of oatmeal which we had no option but to throw away.” As the ReGrainers looked up ways to utilize the spent grain, they found that it could be used to bake bread. “This was in mid-2011 and craft beer was gaining popularity. We started wondering what these urban breweries were doing with their spent grain.” In agricultural areas this spent grain is often used as feed for animals, but in an urban setup that is not easy to implement. Invariably the grain goes for compost or gets wasted. “That is when we came up with the idea of ReGrained- the goal being to become a bridge between the beer industry and the local food systems.”
ReGrained
So they took the leftover grains and turned them into delicious nutritional bars. Although the work for ReGrained began much earlier, Dan and Jordan went commercial with their venture around 2013. “It didn’t start with being full time. We started making and selling products and growing organically. We knew we wanted to set up a company, but we also wanted to be sure of approaching it the right way.” Spending the first few years on learning the process and working on their product, Dan says they have now reached a stage where they can focus on their venture full-time and see it grow the way they want it to.
A major part of this equation are the breweries. ReGrained works with three brewery partners as of now- Magnolia Brewery,21st Amendment and Triple Voodoo, all based in San Francisco. If you stop by the ReGrained website, you will see a video where head brewer Phil Meeker from Triple Voodoo, talks about beer making and not having a good option for the used up grain. Many breweries have to pay to get the spent grain taken away, and as Meeker puts it in the video, they like the option of it going into a viable product.
The Product
ReGrained bars are available in two flavors- Chocolate and Coffee Stout Bars, Honey Almond IPA Bars. These products are just the start for what ReGrained wants to do. “Essentially, our product is a food grade ingredient, which is high in protein and fibre content. In making beer, all you need are the sugars from the grain. Without being intentional, there is waste generated because of the way the process works. We are presenting urban breweries with an alternative to address the issue of wastage. The product that we make can become a source of ingredient for many other products which we are exploring.” Why Bars to start with?- “We wanted to introduce this ingredient in a format that people could easily relate to. Everyone is used to eating nutritional bars. It is widely available and has a good shelf life.” They also have two new flavors of these bars coming up next year.
Even with making these bars, ReGrained sources ingredients from people who believe in sustainable practices like them. For example, the honey for their bars comes from a local beekeeper. Dan accepts that sourcing all the ingredients in this manner is not always feasible, but over time, he hopes, there will be a visible change. ” We believe that every decision should be intentional and we do pay a lot of attention to the source of our ingredients. Even if on a small scale, we can make an impact. We hope that our growth will encourage the growth of other mission-aligned partners.” ReGrained bars are packaged in a compostable material. Their products are available online, but ReGrained is looking at other outlets as well. ” ReGrained bars are now available in local grocery stores. We are also selling to companies that provide snacks. As we grow our products, we are trying to find as many creative sales channels as possible. ”
Challenges
While people did respond to their product in a positive manner, the challenge was conveying the underlying message. Dan explains that the word “waste” works contrary to their product which is rich in nutrients and very edible. So even if the product is the result of something that usually gets discarded, it has all the credentials of being an incredible food source. One of the ways, ReGrained addresses this by working on their branding. ” Our tagline is Eat Beer. People hear that, and they want to know what it means. That is the goal-to get them to a point where they want to learn about it. Once they understand what we are trying to do, they tend to get very excited to be a part of it.”
Whether it is addressing an issue or being creative about the branding, Dan emphasises that what is most important is that the product should taste great. The ReGrained team put in a lot of work into the product to make it a good enough reason for people to start eating their beer. During the initial stage, they did multiple trials at their end to ensure that the product had the right flavour and texture. As they sold this original version of the product, they also collected feedback from consumers which they then factored into their product.
Choosing Right
In his post Food Waste Alchemy 101, Dan writes “food waste is a solvable issue”, and with ReGrained Dan and Jordan prove that they mean business.
“This is not a new idea. Honestly, the idea of everything not being used is probably new.In nature, there is no waste. Even if you look at it solely from a manufacturing perspective, it is in the best interest of the manufacturer to find ways of using all by-products. With many food-based ventures working on the issue of food wastage what we see now is a lot of innovation which probably did not exist before. The products created because of this movement are addressing the issue of food wastage in the right language. It is important for the consumers to realize that with such products, every bite they take has a purpose.” Dan emphasizes the consumer’s role in working towards this goal of eliminating nutrient waste. “Whatever we are trying to do is not possible without people. Every decision that they make at the grocery store or the restaurant has an impact. These decisions add up to create the economic drivers for these models to become successful. “
Future Plans? While ReGrained does plan to introduce their ingredient in other product formats, their goal is to be not a product company but a solution for all urban breweries and a part of the food revolution that is working on eliminating waste.
For more information on ReGrained do visit their website and their Facebook Page.
All Images Courtesy Of : ReGrained