Description du projet
In Switzerland, breweries generate more than 80'000 tons of spent grain every year, which makes it the main co-product of the beer industry. As the brewing process exclusively extracts sugar, many nutrients are left in the brewer spent grain (BSG), the malted cereal (mainly barley) that has been grounded and cooked in order to make the beer. Today, this by-product is barely used for human consumption and does not bring any added value to the brewer.
The last few decades testify that people are progressively shifting towards a plant-based diet around the globe. In 2020, there were more than 3,2 million flexitarians in Switzerland. Globally, customers tend to attach more importance to healthy, eco-friendly and ethical food products. The plant-based meat and dairy alternatives food market in Europe is expected to reach EUR 7.2 billion by 2025. At a national level, the leading food retailers are expanding their vegan and vegetarian certified product offering.
Given the increasing demand for sustainable meat and dairy substitutes, manufacturers must adapt and find solutions to offer alternatives that fulfill the needs of their customers.
ProSeed wants to produce a protein concentrate for food producers who aspire to offer sustainable and ecological products to their customers. Unlike other imported and highly processed plant-based protein sources, we provide a local and upcycled protein powder ingredient extracted from co-products of the brewing industry.
Our approach focuses on an innovative circular business model that aims to extract high value-added components from by-products and to reintroduce them into the industrial circuits.
We want to provide a plant-based and upcycled source of protein, while fulfilling our mission to contribute to a more transparent and sustainable food system. With our solution, we make the most of the by-products generated in our country. Furthermore, the protein concentrate allows people to diversify their plant-based sources of amino acid intake, without cultivating any land.
Etat/résultats intermédiaires
Since the beginning of our collaboration with the HEI-VS in September 2021 linked to the First Ventures grant, we took advantage of the opportunity to work in the laboratory and in the pilot hall to develop our first prototype.
The protein concentrate obtained through our extraction process has shown encouraging and promising results. The tests and analysis carried out allowed us to obtain different kind of powders with various protein contents, ranging from 35% to 70%.
We partnered with a brewery to collect part of their BSG to supply our research. We also worked with multiple subcontractors to perform specific steps of our process. Furthermore, we provided students with a practical business case as their “travaux pratique” (HEI-VS and HEG-GE). We are in touch with law firms specialized in food regulations and IP.
We have been able to produce a protein concentrate to use in baked goods. We produced protein rich bread to test the ingredient in a finished-product.
In March 2022, we started a pilot experiment with a bakery to test our prototypes. The objective is to produce and commercialize a protein-enriched bread. We have met with several companies interested in entering a partnership agreement with us, while contract negotiations are in progress. We plan to incorporate the company and start selling our product in the upcoming months.
By improving the technical features of our concentrate, ProSeed will then be able to target new types of customers, such as fitness and sports nutrition products, vegan and vegetarian food, as well as meat and dairy substitutes.
In the future, ProSeed would like to further develop its expertise in nutrient extraction and deepen its focus on the techno-functionalities of our proteins. We aspire to expand our product portfolio and activities to new sectors and applications while contributing to a more sustainable and transparent food system.
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Dernière mise à jour de cette présentation du projet 04.05.2022