Upcycled crop leftovers: AB InBev selects Comet Bio to pilot nutrition from brewers' grain

03 Mar 2020 --- Comet Bio, a manufacturer of sustainable ingredients, has been selected by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the world’s largest brewer, to join its 100+ Accelerator to pilot technology on brewers’ grain. The 100+ Accelerator builds off of AB InBev’s 2025 Sustainability Goals, with six challenges around smart agriculture, water stewardship, circular economy and climate action.

Through the 100+ Accelerator, AB InBev partners with companies who can deliver breakthrough advancements in sustainability and will aim to solve over 100 challenges by 2025. The accelerator will support promising ideas and high potential technologies, reflecting a vision of building a company to last for the next 100 years and beyond. Powered by ZX Ventures, the 100+ Sustainability Accelerator will run annual boot camps in nine markets followed by a 10-week program for select entrepreneurs to test and scale solutions.

“We received over 1,200 submissions from around the globe across all six challenges. After a rigorous review, 17 start-ups have been selected to join the second 100+ Accelerator cohort,” says Maisie Devine, Global Director, Sustainability Investments & Accelerator.

Comet Bio has developed a novel process to extract nutrition from food system waste. It produces healthy ingredients such as Arrabina prebiotic dietary fiber from upcycled crop leftovers. Its technology is touted as integrating seamlessly with traditional food production systems, making it a sustainable process. 

Last November, Comet Bio achieved self-affirmed Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status for its Arrabina dietary fiber ingredient. At the time, Richard Troyer, CEO of Comet Bio said, “Obtaining GRAS status is a significant milestone for the commercialization of our ingredient and is an indication of our strong commitment to the efficacy and safety of our ingredients. This status allows us to better serve our customers in the food, beverage and supplement categories with confidence.”

“We are excited to partner with AB InBev to pilot their saved grains in our process. AB InBev’s Waste to Wellbeing Challenge aligns perfectly with Comet’s core capability of extracting nutrition from food system waste,” explains Troyer.

The selected 17 applicants will receive support, mentors and funds so AB InBev can incubate, experiment and amplify their solutions at scale. 

In March 2018, FoodIngredientsFirst reported AB InBev was committing to smart agriculture and circular packaging. “Our dream is to bring people together for a better world, which is why we are committed to supporting a healthy environment and strong communities. Climate change is the most pressing issue confronting our planet and could impact the natural resources we rely on to brew our high-quality beers. More than ever, we see an opportunity to use sustainability as a catalyst for innovation,” Carlos Brito, Chief Executive Officer of AB InBev, said at the time.

And last January, AB InBev joined forces with a US crop improvement company to employ a cutting-edge platform to improve barley yields, diversify crops and bolster barley breeding. By tapping into the predictive breeding methods of Benson Hill Biosystems solutions, the Belgium-based brewers used technology that accelerates the development of higher yielding and sustainable barley varieties that require less water and fewer natural resources.

Edited by Elizabeth Green