Published on September 26th, 2024.
Waste Not, Sip Plenty
How Beverage Innovators are Tackling Food Waste
September 29th is International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. The statistics on food waste are staggering. According to the Food Waste Index Report 2024, 1.05 billion tonnes of food were wasted globally in 2022, amounting to nearly one-fifth of all food available to consumers.
At Drink Warehouse UK, we prioritise sustainability and the well-being of our planet. In honour of this day, we’re highlighting brands that transform food waste into beloved products, championing a greener and more sustainable future.
Discarded Banana Peel Rum
Discarded Spirits Co. is a brand driven by a mission to combat needless waste and inspire progress. At the forefront of a new wave of spirits, they challenge traditional uses of natural resources by transforming once-wasted ingredients into delicious, treasured beverages. Discarded Spirits Co. sets a new standard for sustainability and innovation in the beverage industry.
Perfect for sustainable sipping, Discarded Banana Peel Rum turns an icon of waste into an icon of taste. This fruity, sweet rum features a base of Caribbean rum, originally used to season empty whisky casks at William Grant and Sons, blended with an extract made from banana peels. Renowned for its unique flavour, it has often been described as reminiscent of liquid banana bread.
The banana peel extract imparts toffee notes with a fruity balance, evoking banoffee pie and sticky toffee pudding. Deep, fruity milk chocolate raisin flavours are accompanied by a crystallised ginger finish, making each sip a delightful experience.
Toast American Pale Ale
With its short shelf life and low prices, bread has become one of the most wasted food products globally, with an estimated one million loaves discarded daily in the UK alone. This staggering waste inspired the foundation of Toast, a beer company dedicated to transforming discarded bread into delicious brews. Founded by Tristram Stuart, a lifelong campaigner for food waste reduction and an UN-appointed 12.3 SDG Champion, Toast aims to divert global food waste from landfills.
Toast uses recycled baked goods in its beer production by replacing a portion of the barley in the beer’s grain bill with bread. This substitution not only saves energy but also reduces the environmental impact of brewing. By using bread that has already been produced, Toast conserves resources and decreases carbon emissions.
To date, Toast has saved 3,313,241 slices of bread, demonstrating a significant positive impact on sustainability. By using surplus bread to replace barley, they use less land, water, and energy, showcasing an innovative approach to reducing food waste and promoting environmental conservation.
Black Cow Vodka
Black Cow co-founders Archie and Jason, neighbours and good friends, share a passion for vodka. In 2011, during a lively discussion over several drinks, they conceived the idea for Pure Milk Vodka. While exploring ways to utilise the whey left over from cheese production, Archie discovered that Mongolians distil drinks from the milk of herd animals like horses, yaks, donkeys, and reindeer, sparking his lightbulb moment.
Cow’s whey is rich in natural sugars, which are crucial for fermentation. They combine the whey with yeast to create a frothy beer, which then undergoes three rounds of distillation and filtration to produce their unique vodka. The result is a super smooth, highly sustainable spirit.
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