Food production is one of the world’s biggest contributors to climate change. But a huge proportion of it goes to waste. That’s something London-based beer company Toast Ale is tackling head on.
Based in Holborn, Toast launched in 2015 as the brainchild of Toastmaster and environmentalist, Tristram Stuart, and Chief Operating Officer, Louisa Ziane.
Having seen how the Brussels Beer Project used surplus bread in their 'Babylone' beer and already knowing about the colossal waste of bread in the UK (a staggering 44% gets thrown away), Tristram saw a huge opportunity to get beer drinkers involved in reducing waste and raising funds for charity. And all with beautifully brewed beers to enjoy.
“Our mission is to help the planet by using less land, water and energy, and reducing carbon emissions by using surplus bread to replace barley in brewing. We source our bread from sandwich factories, using the fresh crusts that they would normally throw out.”
They’ve gone from strength to strength, collaborating with names including Guinness, Warburtons, BrewDog, and Wiper and True, alongside many others, to create brilliant, limited edition bread-based beers. Their beers were launched on hit Channel 4 show Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast. They also have a selection of beers on sale with Waitrose (APA & Pale Ale in cans), Ocado (Craft Lager, APA, Pale Ale and SIPA in bottles) and Co-Op (SIPA Cans 4-pack). And their recent Companion Series series involved a coalition of 25 breweries joining together to tackle climate change with profits going to Rainforest Trust and Soil Heroes. This followed on from the Rise Up Series where Toast had teamed up with other B Corps. “By brewing quality beers using waste bread we’re getting people talking and nudging them towards taking positive action for the planet.”
Toast bought a consignment of Growlerstore Growlers to supply draft beer from the taproom they opened in their office during lockdown. “We first saw Growlerstore Growlers online. They looked exactly what we needed, and they offered the best range for what we wanted. They were able to get them to us really quickly too.” Toast stickered them up with their logo and away they went. “During lockdown we worked with PedalMe. A cycle-based courier company we met in our shared sustainable office space to get our draft ales to customers in Growlers.”
Toast don’t just want to brew their own beer using waste bread though, and who knows what the future shape of things to crumb is. “Eventually we’d like our own crumbing room right here in our HQ where people can see the process in action.”
Toast is committed to raising awareness of food waste and is rightly proud that all their profits go to Feedback, a charity dedicated to creating a sustainable food production cycle, where fewer resources are used to make it, and less is wasted. “Our goal is to brew with a billion slices of bread. It would be amazing to get all brewers involved and considering using bread in their brewing.”
The people at Toast dream of a world without waste. Using our eco-friendly, reusable Growlers plays a small part in that. And we couldn’t be prouder of what they’re achieving, or of our involvement. “Growlerstore Growlers fit with our ethos. They’re no-waste containers, they’re reusable, and they have a low carbon footprint. They also transport draft beer from taproom to home beautifully.”
Looking for a more sustainable way to serve your beers to customers?
You can shop for Growlerstore Growlers here.
Find out more about Toast Ales here
Chat to us on 0208 3967322, or email us here