Toast Ale receives investment from Heineken
British brewery Toast Ale, which makes beer from the waste of unsold bread, has announced plans to “save” 1 billion pieces of bread. To expand production, she attracted investments, including from Heineken. Since opening in 2016, the brewery has turned 2.9 million slices of bread into the business — the brewery receives raw materials from bakeries and sandwich makers who donate unsold bread to them. Toast Ale has already collaborated with 86 breweries, with whom she shared her experience of using bread in brewing. Among these projects was a collaboration timed to coincide with COP26 – the UN Conference on Climate Change. 25 breweries used unsold bread to brew beer and sent an open letter to world leaders calling for attention to the problem of overproduction of products. The company has raised more than £2m in funding, including from the National Geographic Society, Heineken Brewery and former Unilever CEO Paul Polman. All investors have committed themselves to transfer the profits from the sale of shares for the benefit of society. In addition, they will not receive dividends – all profits intended for distribution will be transferred to charity. The investment will focus on scaling up cooperation with bakeries to reduce bread waste and further work with other breweries. Toast Ale’s ongoing research will help expand collaboration between brewers and bakers.