Toast Ale

Delicious craft beer brewed using surplus bread.

Toast Ale is a craft brewing company that creates delicious beer using surplus bread from bakeries and sandwich makers. They transform leftover loaves into what they call 'liquid gold,' replacing about 25% of traditional malted barley with bread that would otherwise go to waste. Their product line includes various craft beers like New Dawn Session IPA, Grassroots Pale Ale, Rise Up Lager, and Jason's Sourdough IPA.

The company was founded with a mission to combat food waste and environmental degradation through sustainable brewing practices. Recognizing that about 44% of bread is wasted and that food production is the biggest contributor to climate change, Toast Ale set out to make sustainable beer that both tastes amazing and creates positive environmental impact. Their approach is rooted in the historical connection between bread and beer, as some of the earliest beers were made using wild yeast to ferment baked grains.

Toast Ale operates on a profit-for-purpose model, donating all their profits to environmental charities that protect the natural world and work to fix the food system. By reducing food waste and dramatically cutting back on the land, water, and energy typically used in brewing, they help reduce carbon emissions and give nature a break. Their work addresses one of the most important climate solutions, as reducing food waste is identified by Project Drawdown as the top solution for reducing emissions.

Impact model

Toast Ale creates impact through their circular economy business model that transforms food waste into valuable products while donating all profits to environmental causes. They brew craft beer using surplus bread that would otherwise be wasted, replacing about 25% of traditional malted barley and dramatically reducing the land, water, and energy typically required for brewing. This approach directly addresses food waste, which is identified as the most important climate solution for reducing emissions according to Project Drawdown.

The company amplifies their impact by channeling all profits to environmental charities that protect the natural world and work to fix the food system. By combining waste reduction with charitable giving, they create a dual impact model that both prevents environmental harm through waste reduction and actively funds solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss through their charitable partnerships.

Impact metrics

Since 2016, Toast Ale has saved enough slices of bread that when stacked together would be 5.6 times the height of Mount Everest. They replace about 25% of malted barley with surplus bread in their brewing process. The company addresses the fact that 44% of bread is wasted and that one third of all food is wasted globally.