Avoiding food waste

Turning beer into burgers

That’s right! Thanks to a new process, V-Love meat substitutes are made using beer-brewing leftovers. And as if avoiding food waste weren’t enough, the products also taste good.

From: Nina Huber
Date: 18.04.2024
Format: What we do

Step 1 – turning brewing barley into malt

The Schweizer Mälzerei malthouse in Lenzburg produces the malt, which is obtained from local brewing barley – a robust plant that copes well with the local conditions. Malt is produced by soaking the ripe barley in water and allowing it to germinate for a week.

Step 2 – turning malt into beer

Malt is the basis for the beer produced by the Chopfab brewery in Winterthur. Mashing the crushed malt, i.e. boiling it in water, leaves residues called “spent grains”. These spent grains contain many valuable substances – such as protein, trace elements, enzymes, vitamins and fibre. In the Middle Ages, spent grains were often mixed into bread dough. Now, they are being used to make meat substitutes.

Step 3 – from spent grains to wet extrudate

Circular Food Solutions – a company based in Winterthur, just a few metres away from the Chopfab Boxer brewery – developed the concept for turning the spent grains into the basic ingredient for meat substitute products. Other ingredients – environmentally friendly peas or wheat – are added to this “wet extrudate”, creating raw products that are then ready to make the short journey to Thurgau.

Step 4 – adding juice and seasoning to create the final product

In Bischofszell, the Migros-Industrie team add the necessary juice and seasoning to the raw product – firstly beetroot juice, oil, onions and garlic, followed by onion powder, paprika powder, oregano, pepper, thyme and rosemary. Machines then shape the mixture into burger patties.

Step 5 – packing

Other machines in Bischofszell pack the vegan burgers in trays before sealing the trays with a cover film and wrapping them in a box. The food is then ready to be transported to the Migros stores.