Anheuser-Busch, the country’s leading brewer and a top US manufacturer, has
announced St. Louis as the primary site for
EverGrain’s US production operations. The
company will renovate the historic Stockhouse 10 brewery, on the
Anheuser-Busch St. Louis Brewery Campus, into EverGrain’s headquarters.
EverGrain is a sustainable ingredient company backed by AB
InBev that
upcycles high-quality spent grains from the beer-brewing process into
nutritious, tasty barley-based ingredients that can be used in a variety of food
and beverage products. Anheuser-Busch sources 98 percent of its ingredients from
US farmers, and EverGrain will leverage the company’s multi-generational
relationships with many of its growers to secure its supply chain and deliver
its transformative barley products at scale.
This nearly $100 million investment in the St. Louis community — which
Anheuser-Busch has called home for more than 160 years and continues to be its
hub for innovation — is part of the company’s recently announced
plan to
invest more than $1 billion over the next two years in its facilities to help
accelerate the recovery and drive economic prosperity in communities across the
US.
“This investment in our hometown of St. Louis brings together two critical
priorities for Anheuser-Busch: playing a leading role in the country’s economic
recovery and leveraging our world class innovation capabilities to create a more
sustainable future,” said Michel Doukeris, CEO of Anheuser-Busch. “From
finding more sustainable ways to produce and deliver our brands, to adapting our
portfolio to meet changing tastes, we are always challenging ourselves to dream
bigger and find innovative solutions to bring high-quality products to our
consumers.”
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The upcycled food industry is projected to grow 5
percent
in the next eight years, and more and more forward-thinking companies are
staking their claim — EverGrain joins a rapidly growing cast of innovators
including
Agricycle,
Misadventure Vodka,
ReGrained,
Renewal
Mill,
Rubies in the
Rubble,
Treasure8
and many more that are turning previously wasted food ingredients into
delicious, value-added products.
In 2018, Anheuser-Busch began giving its spent grains a second life through a
partnership with another company-backed venture
called Canvas — a sustainable, plant-based barley
beverage startup that used the “saved
grains”
in its line of fiber and protein shakes.
EverGrain's Evervita™ is a nutritionally dense flour perfect for use in pasta, bread and other baked goods. | Image credit: EverGrain
Now, with backing from Anheuser-Busch,
EverGrain has worked to commercialize its first generation of nutrient-rich,
ancient-grain products,
EverPro™ and EverVita™. Both product lines are highly versatile and can
be used across a wide range of food products. EverGrain ingredients are
currently available in products such as Take
Two, a plant-based barley milk line. The company
also has multiple product launches with commercial partners planned that will
reach shelves in both the United States and Europe in the first half of fiscal
year 2021.
“This announcement is a key milestone in EverGrain’s journey to realize the full
potential of barley. As we grow our operations in St. Louis, we will be able to
deliver new options to consumers who seek a healthier and more sustainable
future,” said Gregory Belt, founder and CEO of EverGrain and former
sustainability chief at Anheuser-Busch. “With Anheuser-Busch's support, we
are uniquely positioned to deliver high-quality plant-based ingredients that
don’t require additional land, save water, and lower the overall carbon
footprint of our products – making them better for people and for the planet.”
As consumers increasingly demand more sustainable, plant-based options,
EverGrain is prepared to lead the industry with this investment. The company is
currently making its products at their $15 million small-scale production
facility at Anheuser-Busch's Newark, New Jersey brewery which will continue to
be utilized for small batch production and testing once the St. Louis facility
comes online.
The new facility will be the first major production site for EverGrain globally
and is a critical part of Anheuser-Busch’s $1 billion planned investment, which
spans 26 states. These investments will stimulate local economies in communities
across the country, support ongoing industry job creation, and foster continued
sustainability innovations.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Apr 1, 2021 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST