Louise Grant
Rachel Pearson
Glasgow Caledonian University
Alec Wersun
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The Jaw Brew company began with the sole intention of creating a business based on taking sustainable actions, with a mind to contributing to a Circular Economy (CE). Jaw Brew adopted this focus from living in Germany where they were impressed by the emphasis placed on sustainability here and on their return to Scotland spotted an opportunity to fill a gap in the market. Due the company's intentions it covers one of the United Nation's (UN) Sustainability Development Goals - in this case, it heavily features Goal 12, "Responsible Consumption & Production".
Jaw Brew collaborates and creates relationships with local organisations in order to reduce waste, up-cycle and repurpose products, as well. The company also educates and encourages other businesses to adopt a proactive approach to sustainability. This has been highlighted by Co-owner Alison as the linear process, one which is changed or progresses straight from one stage to another, meaning it has a starting point and an ending point, instead Jaw Brews goal is to be an alternative to a traditional linear economy (make, use, dispose) using a Circular Economy in which by definition they keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst being in use, then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of each service life.
Production takes place at the Small Micro-Brewery – where reusable products can be re-used rather than thrown away. For example, the grain used in the brewing process is not sent to waste, but rather to local farmers for use as cattle feed, as it still holds nutrients. Jaw Brew have also partnered with the local Auld’s baker to use left-over morning bread rolls as an ingredient for a beer named ‘Hard-Tack’, which can be seen in the photo from Jaw Brew's website featuring Co-Owner Mark Hazell. Overall, the main intention for Jaw Brew is to reduce waste and pro-long consumption, which as a result has already gained recognition by being awarded a bronze award at the SIBA Regional Award for doing so.
The inspiration for this innovation spiralled from the leader's time living in Germany, "where we really got what sustainability was all about and how individuals should be living better than they are now." From moving back to Scotland, they were “totally shocked to how little things compared to Germany” were sustainable and “how little advanced we were in terms of where we were going on that journey.” They spotted a gap for sustainability within businesses in Scotland, and in particular in Glasgow. Mark Hazell, Alison Hazell’s partner in life and business, had a passion and hobby of brewing for his friends and family. Mark came to realise he was actually quite good with the beers he was producing as they were being well received by those drinking them. This led to the pair seeing potential of combining their passion for brewing with a strong belief in the potential of using sustainability as the basis for a feasible business innovation. A few years were spent attending various trade shows to market Jaw Brew beer before starting commercial production in July 2014.
Alison Hazell finds it hard to define the impact of this innovation on the overall beer business, asking herself the question: “Did we sell more beer from our whole range because we had a social media campaign telling the world that the we made one of our beers out of bread?” Alison went on to state that Jaw Brew is “growing year on year, but whether this is as a result of a better marketing strategy, or employing a new sales person, or innovation is difficult to quantify.” She is nevertheless convinced that “it has a positive effect on brand recognition, but we cannot quantify that. It is for this reason that few businesses take the time to innovate and try new things whose effects cannot be directly measured.”
Hazell highlighted that although they had a very clear idea of how they wanted to drive growth of the company, they realised Jaw Brew would benefit on a niche, differentiation strategy, because of their use of high quality materials, as opposed to targeting large retail chains, which would squeeze margins. Throughout the interview, Circular Economy held the topic of conversation as it is Jaw Brews main intention as a business. Jaw Brew have many collaborative prospects in process and for the future with local businesses which has allowed them to continue with being a Circular Economy not only for the company but also involving others too. Thus, emphasising the importance of a Circular Economy to Jaw Brew. The major topic surrounding the education of sustainability was predominant and has entailed many collaborative opportunities. This has allowed products to have a continued cycle for not only the company but for others, again emphasising the importance of the Circular Economy topic.A Circular Economy can be realised in Jaw Brew’s connection with
cattle farming friends, where Jaw Brew endeavours to give their waste spent
grain from the brewing process to “feed it to the cattle, so it doesn’t ever go
to landfill.” Again, this is highlighted with the collaboration with local
bakers, which involves left over bread rolls being given to Jaw Brew to brew one of its beers. Some of the spent grain from the brewing process is also sent to catering outlets to create special dietary requirement
loafs and this again helps to ensure that no area of Jaw Brew's production is creating waste, in the event that materials are reusable.
Jaw Brew state that they are “awaiting year-end figures but turnover is roughly £190,000.” With regard to employees of the business, “the Brewery currently has 6 full time, one part-time employee, and a full-time intern.” This reflects Jaw Brew's growth from being a purely family run business into an established micro-enterprise capable of creating employment opportunities. Alison views the ability to create employment opportunities through the growth of their company a significant highlight over the past four years - and one that contributes to SDG 8 - decent work.
As it stands, Jaw Brew’s branding and commercial success has allowed them to expand their business prospects by allocating around £25,000 into development of a new Gin product, branded Hazell and Hazell. From attendance at various trade shows to market Jaw Brew beer, the partners noticed that the customers who were buying Jaw Brew were also interested in buying gin that carries Jaw Brew's brand ethos. This led to a strategy to “increase the offering to the existing customer base and attract new ones”, which resulted in developing the gin using the same sustainable business model as the core business.
The innovation of the business itself has gained recognition from
Zero Waste Scotland, a national organisation promoting sustainability, who are
“looking at what [they] are doing and developing it further.” Jaw Brew have received support from Zero Waste Scotland to develop their business model, in the form of
coaching and training in ways to optimise use of resources in the value chain, and
to prolong the life of waste outputs. Alison
highlighted that achieving sustainability is a big-time commitment but it is providing Jaw Brew with the chance to contribute to the creation of a more circular economy, which in turn helps them to be more efficient.
Alison highlighted another innovation by saying that “here in Scotland, we have huge numbers of shellfish cases that are put in to landfill.” So, Jaw Brew approached a company that specialises in something called 'bridgeable fermentation' packaging processes, and asked them if they could make packaging from the shells of these fish (to replace some of their plastic packaging) as they biodegradable. Jaw Brew aimed for packaging that could be edible, so if it were to end up in water or in a landfill, it could be eaten by fish or insects. The company Jaw Brew approached loved the idea and as a result production of this packaging is now under way. In order to be true to their mission, Jaw Brew “want to try and do everything with as light a foot print as possible on the environment".
These innovations contribute to United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal No. 12, "Responsible Consumption & Production". This case study of Jaw Brew’s innovation highlights a remarkable desire on the part of Jaw Brew to improve Scotland’s waste ratio, something acknowledged by Zero Waste Scotland who support the company's efforts by coaching. This coaching in return as a result enables Jaw Brew to educate others - something Alison highlights as being critical, as it allows them to impact the whole sector by transferring knowledge and ideas to other craft breweries to benefit the environment. This all makes for a win-win partnership between Jaw Brew and society. Jaw Brew is a living example of a company that shows “How a company can do well, by doing good.”
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