A Valais-based start-up company is developing an innovative technology and business model for recycling the byproducts of beer brewing. They will be used as raw materials by manufacturers of ingredients for the bakery sector, among others.
Every year, European breweries generate some 8 million tonnes of biowaste. Known as draff, it consists of the spent grain used in brewing beer, and it still contains many fibres and nutrients. It was this fact that spurred the co-founders of
Technology
ProSeed has developed a drying method that stabilises wet byproducts. For example, malt draff from breweries can only be stored for four hours. If it is transformed into barley flakes, however, it retains its properties for at least 18 months. The drying unit is designed to be integrated into a shipping container so that it can be installed as a ‘plug-and-play’ system at the end of any industrial brewing process. On-site drying avoids the extra weight caused by moisture when transporting unprocessed residues – which are made up of about 80% water. The company has an unusual business model: it sells the machines and buys back the byproducts to market them to the food ingredient manufacturers in its network, who can use them directly. This enables breweries to make a profit from recycling their biowaste, with an estimated return on investment of less than five years.
Maturity
The first containerised unit is operational in a pilot hall and has the potential to process 500 tonnes of waste a year, with an output of around 120 tonnes of finished product. This ‘showroom’ unit should enable the technology to be optimised on a real scale. The first commercial containers are expected to be installed at breweries in the second half of 2025. The ingredients produced from the barley flakes, such as protein concentrates, are intended primarily for the bakery sector, in partnership with specialist ingredient manufacturers. Actively supported by Energypolis, ProSeed raised CHF 1.7 million in the pre-seed round and has opened a new financing round of CHF 2 million in 2024. Its sights are set on the Swiss market, with Europe to follow.
‘Initially designed for breweries, our solution is also of interest to manufacturers of plant-based milks and fruit juices, and could therefore have a global impact on the food system.’
Aurélien Ducrey, CEO and co-founder of ProSeed
This portrait is taken from the second edition of the cleantech start-up overview published in 2024. Discover the full publication here.
