London, England’s Toast Brewing is turning leftover bread into beer. The brewer, which is about to celebrate its 10th year of business, uses a surplus of loaves from bakeries and sandwich makers to create its popular beer. To date, Toast Brewing has saved enough bread to reach nearly four times the height of Mount Everest.
“We’ve saved over 3.3 million slices of surplus bread,” Kristen Fuller, Toast Brewing’s marketing and communication manager, told The Business Download. “And all of our customers helped, simply by buying a beer.”
“That engagement with drinkers is key to our impact,” Fuller continued. “We’re inspiring a community of changemakers to take positive action for the planet, using fun and engaging messaging to invite drinkers to raise a toast and start saving the world.”
Photo Courtesy Toast Brewing
Toast Brewing follows circular economy principles, a system where materials never become waste because they are always reused. The system allows for natural regeneration.
The brewery begins with surplus breads, which are used for barley in the brewing process. After brewing, the spent grain is collected by local farmers who use it for animal feed and compost.
All of Toast Brewing’s wastewater from brewing is treated to ensure it can be safely put back into the environment. This overall process uses less land and water and significantly reduces carbon emissions.
“We use surplus fresh bread to replace 25% of the malted barley in our grain bill,” Fuller explained. “Bread is packed with starches, which are broken down to simple sugars by enzymes in the malted barley. We still use some malt because it contains trace minerals that balance the pH in the process and micronutrients, which are important for the yeast, and its physical attributes, such as the husk, also help to prevent a stuck mash.”
It also has a unique flavor profile, which is essential for the finished beer. Hops are added for aroma and bitterness and to help preserve the beer, and then yeast converts the sugars to alcohol during fermentation.
Photo Courtesy Toast Brewing
“By brewing with surplus bread, we’ve reinvigorated a process that’s as old as beer itself. Our ancestors first brewed beer with bread over 5,000 years ago,” Fuller said.
“And not only does this make good use of one of the world’s most commonly wasted foods, but we dramatically cut back on the amount of land, water, and energy we use, reducing carbon emissions and giving nature a break.”
Toast Brewing also gives back to the community. The company donates all its distributable profits to environmental charities — “We buy Mother Nature a round!” Fuller added — including Rainforest Trust UK, Soil Heroes Foundation, and FoodForAll. The company’s café taproom also works with the social enterprise Change Please, which helps people experiencing homelessness learn to become baristas.
Photo Courtesy Toast Brewing
Earlier in 2024, Toast Brewing launched the Toast Food Sustainability Heroes Fund, designed to give funding to hard-working grassroots community groups.
The brewery wanted to financially support groups raising the bar and helping nature take the lead in sustainability. This year, Toast Brewing offered funding to five organizations.
Toast Brewing’s mission is to not only brew great beers but also spread big, sustainable ideas that can change the world.
Photo Courtesy Toast Brewing
“One-third of food is wasted globally, and reducing this waste is the fastest, cheapest, and most equitable action to tackle the climate and nature crisis,” Fuller said. “We want to lead a brewing movement to eliminate bread waste and fix the food system.”
“Our vision is a beer with more taste and a world without waste,” Fuller continued. “If we work together, we can do amazing things. Here’s to tackling the climate and nature crisis together over a beer.”
