Woolies announces “circular economy” beer made from unused bread






Supermarket chain Woolworths (ASX:WOW) is the latest company to announce a circular economy-based initiative, with a limited edition release of beer containing re-purposed bread loaves.

 

In a statement today, Woolworths announced a pale ale named “Loafer”, made by Goulburn’s Tribe Breweries and to be sold through the Woolworths-owned Dan Murphy’s and BWS chains. 50 cents from a $25 six-pack will be given to Feed Appeal, a not-for-profit that fund-raises provides grants to food relief charities.

 

A claimed 350 kilograms of bread has been used in the batch. This translates to roughly 540 loaves, assuming a 650-gram loaf.

 

“We’re excited to bring to Australians our first circular economy craft beer.” said Woolworths head of sustainability, Adrian Cullen, in a statement.

 

Josh Gaudry, head of innovation at Tribe, said the collected bread was part of the base of the brew, and had contributed “the aroma of fresh toast to produce an easy going pale ale with bright hoppy aromas reminiscent of pear and pineapple.”

 

According to Food Rescue Charity Oz Harvest, bread is “one of the most wasted foods” in Australia, which created an estimated five million tonnes of food waste in 2016-17  

 

Re-purposing unused bread in beer is not a completely new idea. UK brewer Toast Ale has used surplus bread – toasted, mashed and brewed – to create pale ale. Toast Ale itself was inspired by work by the Brussels Beer Project, according to a 2017 interview with Toast’s founder.  

 

Picture: Vstock LLC/Getty Images

 

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