How can a beer company change the food system?

UK craft brewery Toast Ale has launched ‘Baker’s Witbier, a beer brewed in collaboration with Hobbs House Bakery using surplus organic Real Bread.

The collaboration is part of Toast’s Rise up campaign with fellow B Corps, highlighting the environmental impact of our food system to galvanise action ahead of COP26.

The Baker’s Witbier, brewed with organic ingredients, is raising awareness about the impact of industrial agriculture on our rivers and coastal ecosystems.

Reducing the environmental footprint of the beer

Craft brewery Toast Ale has released the third beer of its Rise Up series, raising awareness of our broken food system and galvanising action to fix it for people and the planet.

Released on National Toast Day, 25 February, during Real Bread Week, Baker’s Witbier is a 5% Belgian-style spiced wheat beer with subtle notes of orange and coriander. As is Toast’s signature style, the beer was brewed with surplus fresh bread to prevent food waste and reduce the environmental footprint of the beer.

This limited-edition brew used organic leaves from Hobbs House Bakery, a Real Bread Campaign supporter committed to baking without hidden processing aids or other additives.

By reducing food waste we can protect freshwater sources

Toast’s beer label carries an important message about our river systems: “Industrial food production is polluting our rivers, which create coastal dead zones as they enter the ocean. But one-third of food is wasted. By reducing food waste, and supporting farming practices that use less chemical fertilisers, we can protect freshwater sources.”

Food production is the biggest impact humans have on the planet. It’s the biggest driver of deforestation, user of freshwater, source of greenhouse gas emissions, and cause of the current mass extinction of species. Yet one-third of all food is wasted – 1.3 billion tons per year. Toast’s mission is to change that.

Beer lovers can do their bit by enjoying a cheeky pint. All profits will go to the environmental charity Feedback to support campaigning work on food systems ahead of COP26.

Toast’s Rise Up campaign is also encouraging drinkers to ask their MPs to be advocates for climate and nature, and ensure the food system is taken into account in environmental policy. There’s an easy-to-use form here.

This story shows how Toast Ale supports Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. Specifically Target 12.3: Halve Global Per Capita Food Waste; By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.

About Toast Ale

Toast brews planet-saving beer using surplus fresh bread. This prevents food waste, and reduces the demand for malted barley, and thereby the demand for land, water and energy. Toast open sources a recipe for home brewers and collaborates with breweries all over the world to scale its impact. All its profits go to charities fixing the food system. Toast is a social enterprise and the first UK brewery to become a B Corp. Find out more about Toast Ale here.