Catalina Barros Fabani
Juliana Zurita Mariani
Soledad Busnelli
Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina
Aleandra Scafati
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Temple Brewery's innovation is the discovery of a byproduct from their organic waste that can be used as a raw material for some food products: bagasse flour.
The beer industry generates a lot of organic waste from the crafting process called malt bagasse, which is very pollutant and emits methane, one of the most hazardous greenhouse gases.
That is why this innovation represents a Circular Economy success story in the beer crafting industry: from waste to food.
The bagasse residue resulting from the saccharification of malted cereal grain in the brewing process, is considered an organic waste in the industry.
Temple Brewery innovates by recovering it and transforming it into a raw material for a new product. After a pressing and a filtration process, it can be used in the preparation of breads or other bakery products based on bagasse flour.
This innovation has the potential to revolutionize the beer industry by transforming what is now considered waste into a tasty and nutritious food.
When Temple opened its factory and started making its own beer, the main concern of the shareholders was the waste generation. In this industry tons of waste are generated per month, mainly organic waste, AKA malt bagasse.
So the shareholders try different strategies to reduce the waste. They tried to compost it or give it to small farmers as food for livestock, but it was not enough.
However, one day, Tatiana, the Sustainability Manager of Temple, went to a conference given by Gunter Pauli, author of the book “Blue Economy”, and in that moment the inspiration arose. Thanks to a conversation with Gunter, "I realized that Temple could try to make a food byproduct out of the organic waste".
The company decided to support Tatiana's idea and carried out the chemical, microbiological and physical studies to make sure it would be suitable for human consumption, with the help of the Catholic University of Argentina. After this process was successfully finished, they summoned professional bakers in order to discover different applications of the bagasse flour in the bakery sector, resulting in a recipe book with several applications of bagasse flour.
Once these challenges were overcome, the next step was to work with the national food authorities to officially approve the byproduct in the Argentinean food code/regulation.
The key aspect of this innovation was to engage all the necessary actors into the process. Now the innovation is available for free for the whole industry.
The innovation makes several impacts:
This innovation reduces costs and increases rent.
It reduces costs by reducing organic waste that needs to be disposed in a landfill which is estimated as USD 15,000 per annum. Furthermore, it avoids the greenhouse gas emissions of the methane generated from that waste that is a very hazardous pollutant. We estimate that 14,000 tons of CO2 equivalent per annum are saved.
It is also a new significant source of income, since the waste is transformed into a raw material for the bakery industry. Temple is producing pizzas in their stores and selling them to the customers.
This initiative contributes environmentally by reducing the organic waste that is normally generated and buried in landfills, by turning it into a byproduct for the food industry. For example, Temple generates approximately 350 tons of malt bagasse on an annual basis which are no longer disposed. We estimate that the whole beer industry in Argentina generates 15,000 tons of malt bagasse on an annual basis.
Furthermore, this waste reduction also reduces greenhouse gas emissions. We estimate that the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions saved on annual basis only by Temple is equal to around 14,000 tons CO2 equivalent, and if the innovation is applied to the whole Argentinean industry of beer artesanal crafting, the greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by 600.000 tons of CO2 equivalent annually.
Regarding the social impact, we understand that Temple collaborates on generating local business opportunities and also by telling the circular economy story to employees, clients and the community. By doing so, they are educating and raising awareness of how to be a more conscious person, as a client and as an employee.
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Tatiana Baigorria, Sustainability Manager
Temple is more than a bar: it is a happy experience.
Temple's mission is to promote moments of happiness. They want clients, employees and the community, to enjoy their best moments with a conscious mind, respecting the environment and promoting social integration.
Today, Temple has 15 stores across Argentina, 90 local suppliers, more than 300 employees and around 100,000 customers a month.