Building a Fanbase with Upcycled Food Products

Sakaeya Bakery (Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture), which makes bread and other products for school lunches, opened a craft beer (Classified as low-malt beer) brewery in February. Bread ears from the baking factory are substituted for some of the malt, which is then brewed. It has been utilizing them as feed, but it has been having an uneasy feeling about downcycling 1/3 of the bread it makes by focusing on additive-free products.

While researching the possibility of creating some added value, it learned of a beer made from discarded bread in the UK called “toast ale.”

It commissioned breweries in three locations, including Kanazawa and Niigata, to manufacture the products and launched three products under the “better life with upcycle” brand two years ago. The response has been positive, due in part to the popularity of craft beer, which people purchase because they empathize with the creator’s thoughts.