13 Mar 2023 SAB repurposes brewing by-products to make bread
SAB’s Castle Lager brand is admirably joining the global sustainability trend to add value to brewing by-product – with a project to make it a source of a nutritious bread for poor communities.
Dubbed “Bread of the Nation”, this innovative initiative by one of SA’s favourite beer brands forms part of its Better World Programme and will see spent grain repurposed to produce approximately thousands of loaves for local communities.
Previously sold to cattle farmers, this initiative will see the by-product repurposed for positive impact for communities. The bread will be made by a bakery company called The Health Food Company.
Castle Lager has teamed up with a NGO food-rescue organisation and hunger relief, SA Harvest, which will use its footprint and partnerships to distribute the bread.
Castle Lager brand director, Wendy Bedforth, explains: “For over 127 years, South African Breweries and Castle Lager have always represented the values of resilience and unity, bringing together South Africans, through our favourite pastimes.
“As a proudly South African brand, we are delighted to leverage our production process for the greater good that will fuel the everyday hard-working South African. Bread of the Nation forms part of Castle Lager’s rebranding campaign to bring Mzansi’s favourite brew closer to our communities.
“This campaign speaks to our commitment to using the power of our brand to reshape and rebuild a better South Africa.”
This innovation, she adds, will contribute meaningfully to the SAB’s zero-waste and sustainability commitments and its ongoing drive to reduce carbon emissions and minimise the enviro impact of its operations.
SA Harvest’s mission is to end hunger in South Africa, and it has delivered 38,6-million meals since its inception in October 2019 by rescuing 11,6-million kilograms of food that would otherwise go to waste. It has a network of over 200 beneficiary organisations around the country.
“As a caring corporate citizen, Castle Lager has been actively seeking innovative ways to improve the lives of South Africans. This campaign allows us an opportunity to use Mzansi’s national beer’s by-Product to showcase the Goodness Within Castle campaign.” adds Bedforth
Alan Browde, CEO and founder of SA Harvest comments: “Over 20 million people in South Africa are classified as food vulnerable, while 10,3 million tonnes of food goes to waste every year.
“This initiative by SAB to utilise a by-product – something that would ordinarily be viewed as waste and end up contributing to climate change – and transforming it into a nutritious means of feeding those in desperate need, is an example of kind of innovation it will take to solve hunger in South Africa.
“We are delighted to partner with an organisation that shares our vision for reducing the environmental impact of food waste, and delivering nourishing food to the most vulnerable in our society.”
According to a report released by Statistics South Africa, Measuring Food Security in South Africa: Applying the Food Insecurity Experience Scale, almost 23,6% of South Africans in 2020 were affected by moderate to severe food insecurity, while almost 14,9% experienced severe food insecurity.
“Bread of the Nation eloquently translates the ethos of our new brand campaign, ‘It’s Within’, which celebrates the shared values of courage and optimism that South Africans use to rise above their daily challenges and causes of hopelessness and pessimism.
“What better way to bring this renewed hope than by using the goodness within South African Breweries and Castle Lager to fuel this South African spirit? Bread of the Nation represents innovation for good” Bedforth concludes.
Castle Lager envisages running Bread of the Nation for three years to assess its feasibility.
Source: SAB (caption to pic top: Alan Browde: CEO and founder SA Harvest, Mpho Tshukudu: dietician and Wendy Bedforth: brand director: Castle Lager).