Nearly a fifth of food produced is thrown away. Two companies from Salzburg have now won a joint prize for a research project. They make vegan food from a byproduct of beer production.
A United Nations study shows that more than a billion tons of food ends up in landfills worldwide every year. That is almost a fifth of global production. This is where the EU project Interreg Alpine Space CEFoodCycle comes into the picture, led by the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences. The international research project advocates measures against food waste.
Food remains ‘in circulation’
As part of the project, the CEFoodCycle Award was presented last week to companies pursuing new ideas in the food circular economy. “The project aims to connect stakeholders in the food sector and support them on the path to a circular economy. For this reason, we created the prize to show lighthouse projects in the Alpine region to a wide audience,” explains Eva Lienbacher, who leads the entire project from the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences.
Companies, startups and initiatives that are planning or have already implemented a project in the food sector to reduce food waste were eligible to participate in the award. A total of 35 projects from the five participating partner countries (Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and France) were submitted. A winner was chosen from each country and the awards ceremony took place on May 22, 2024 at the Hofburg in Brixen, South Tyrol.
Beer grains are used to make vegan food
The race for the Salzburg-Bavaria region was won by the innovative collaboration between Stiegl and easyVEGAN. The startup easyVEGAN uses the spent grain, a byproduct of brewing beer production, as the main ingredient for vegetable balls, thalers and burger patties. The meat substitute products made from natural spent grain are the first of their kind on the market worldwide and are produced in a particularly climate-friendly way.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
