From Brewers to Bakers

            Finding creative outlets for food waste streams has spurred innovation for repurposing by-products in ways that make both environmental and business sense in recent years.
            Take the brewing industry, for example. For every gallon of beer, approximately 10 pounds of spent grain is generated. This means that in Oregon alone, about 190 million pounds of spent grain is generated a year.
            Previously, spent grain had primarily been used for agricultural purposes. However, as efforts have been increased to find more uses for by-products, upcycled spent grain has been used to make anything from beer packaging to dog treats. One company in the business of upcycled spent grain is Rise Products, Inc., a company which uses spent grain to produce nutritious flour that is both protein and fiber rich.
            Rise will be pitching their business at the upcoming IFT18 event that is being hosted this July in Chicago. One of the selling points of Rise? Their patent pending technology for processing upcycled food by-products is adaptable to other food byproducts. On the Rise website alone, grapes, citrus fruits, tofu, and soy milk byproducts alone are listed as potential by-product uses with their patent pending technology.
            Having filed for a patent is a good business move, as coverage provided by the patent may become an invaluable protection and negotiation tool while Rise continues to expand into other by-product streams.

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