The brewing industry generates millions of tons of spent grain annually as a byproduct. Upcycling these spent grains aligns with global sustainability goals and presents significant opportunities for food production. This report examines the requirements for ensuring consistent, high-quality spent grain products, explores current barriers, reviews applications and benefits for food producers, and previews future innovation directions. Insights are drawn from practical experiences shared by Upgrain and Foodpeople during an international webinar on October 30, 2025.
Delivering high-quality spent grain ingredients suitable for food production involves a combination of technical, operational, and organizational factors. Experiences from both Upgrain and Foodpeople highlight several core requirements:
A critical technical requirement is the rapid stabilization of raw spent grain. Spent grain, as it emerges from breweries, typically contains high water content (about 80%) and is warm (~70°C), creating conditions ideal for microbial growth and rapid spoilage.
Upgrain example:
Upgrain has addressed this by installing their upcycling facilities directly at the local brewery. As William Beiskjaer of Upgrain explained, “Right after the spent grain bunker…[grain] is shot into our machinery and offcycled within minutes. And of course, then stabilised and put in silos.” This approach ensures minimal spoilage and consistent ingredient quality.
Another requirement is to process spent grains with minimal additives to maintain a “clean label” standard. Mechanical processing methods, such as drying and milling, are preferable over enzymatic or chemical treatments, which may trigger regulatory (novel food) barriers and consumer doubts.
Upgrain example:
Upgrain uses exclusively mechanical fractionation techniques to separate proteins and fibers, ensuring the ingredients are “purely barley malt… no GMOs and no additives” meeting food industry demand for clean label ingredients and easing market entry.
Food producers require reliable, standardized ingredient deliveries to maintain product quality at industrial scales. This means not only steady supply from partner breweries, but the ability to process and store spent grains in stable forms (typically dried and milled).
Foodpeople example:
Emma Louise Cox from Foodpeople highlighted logistical challenges: “Sometimes we’ve also been in the position where we've received a side stream that often would have to pause everything in our production because the risk of the side stream will expire is quite big.” For Foodpeople’s best-selling potato buttermilk bun, they established direct supply logistics with the dairy to assure freshness and regularity, demonstrating the need for robust supply partnerships.
Spent grain ingredients must be well characterized to allow food technologists to adapt recipes and expectations. Know-how is required on hydration, shelf life, flavor contributions, and functional properties.
Foodpeople example:
Dry spent grain is favoured for its predictable behavior in formulations: “It gives us the advantage that we know how it will react when mixed with water, sourdough, flour, etc., and therefore gives us consistency.”
Despite the opportunities, significant challenges must be overcome to integrate spent grain ingredients widely into food production:
Foodpeople example:
Emma Louise Cox cited flavor and texture as limiting factors: “For us at least, if the dried spent grain has been used too much or is sort of overdosed, it does impact the flavour and the final feel of the bread… we only use around 1.3% of dried spent grain to our IPA beer bun.”
Upgrain example:
Upgrain noted that “in Switzerland is that we are beating the wheat flour prices because we're producing here... as soon as we have to ship it overseas, then transport cost is just too high.” He underlined the need for decentralized, regional processing to keep prices competitive.
Foodpeople example:
Cox emphasized the communications challenge: “Words like surplus and leftovers are perceived sort of often negatively if not framed correctly,” making market education necessary.
Bakery: Spent grain ingredients add protein and fiber, improve water retention, and can contribute distinctive “nutty, caramel, umami” flavor notes. This can extend shelf life and allow for cleaner labels.
Cereal and snacks: High-protein cereals and chips have been launched or planned using spent grain powder. Upgrain recently developed a high-protein cereal in partnership with a major Swiss retailer.
Spent grain fractions can be used in high percentages (10%–40%) in meat alternative products, where high fiber and protein are desirable, and textural properties can be managed.
While food remains the main target, there is exploratory interest in spent grains for biodegradable cutlery and furniture—although wheat bran remains a cheaper competitor.
Innovation in spent grain valorization is active and multifaceted. Both technical and business model innovations will push the field forward:
Upgrain’s vision is for a decentralized network of processing plants installed at breweries of differing scales, keeping product local, reducing transportation, and driving cost parity with major agricultural commodities.
Upgrain is piloting “burn scenario” approaches, where less food-suitable spent grain fractions are used as fuel for direct, on-site green thermal energy generation, helping breweries meet their decarbonization goals.
Technological and culinary innovations will expand the use-cases and dosage levels for spent grain ingredients:
Continued improvements in logistics (e.g., flash-freezing at source, improved drying methods) to accommodate consistency needs of large bakeries and other food manufacturers.
Strategic communication and co-branding efforts (e.g., at festivals or with premium eco-conscious brands) to reposition upcycled ingredients as aspirational and valuable, dispelling “waste” connotations.
Seeking clear standards, life cycle assessments, certifications (organic, halal, kosher, FSSC), and perhaps novel food clearances as necessary to grow new markets.
Upcycling spent grains is a promising step toward a circular and sustainable food system. Success requires technical capacity for stabilization, strategic logistical partnerships, and consistent innovation in both products and business models. As examples from Upgrain and Foodpeople illustrate, the journey involves both barriers and opportunities—but ongoing investment, awareness-building, and collaborative innovation are creating a pathway for spent grains to become a staple sustainable ingredient for tomorrow’s food industry.