Justine and Mark have a vision ‘To be the company that contributes to a circular economy and sustainable future by reducing waste in the agrifood system’. They see the importance of working in the circular economy space, developing new technologies to upcycle agricultural waste into the global agrifood system.
Over the course of the HoneTEK Program, Project Olea has now been expanded to incorporate Brewers Spent Grains (BSG) to complement the seasonality of olive pomace.
While the journey started with olives, and has been expanded to BSG, this has been a deliberate pivot, to work continuously through the year with fresh sourced product, rather than just what is seasonally available with olive waste.
The additional problem identified is that brewing requires large volumes of grain for fermentation (estimated at 1 million tonnes of barley per year in Australia). BSG is mostly collected for cattle feed, is highly nutritious with 20% plus protein, and is 85% of brewer’s daily waste. This is a low value waste product.
The solution is to repurpose the BSG into food products using biotech. The team has developed a process to incorporate micro-organisms into waste material to increase its protein content and value. Repurposing waste will add to food security for the future. The aim is to unlock valuable revenue streams, elevate waste up the food hierarchy, implement biotech to enrich proteins and supply growing demand. In terms of market size, CSIRO forecast that the Australian plant-based protein sector is forecast to grow from current product value of $140 Million to A$3-9 billion by 2030.