By recovering and reprocessing spent grain from breweries into barley flour, RISE Products recycles waste products into nutritious ingredients while enabling their partners to become zero-waste businesses.

RISE Products is buying discarded grain from New York breweries and processing it to create barley flour, a product that is rich in fiber and protein. Built on a circular production model, RISE Products aims to enable their partners to reduce their operational costs and to move towards becoming zero-waste.

The grains used for RISE flour are collected from breweries in Brooklyn and Queens. In the brewing process, the grains are soaked in hot water where sugars are released, leaving behind a protein and water-rich mixture. RISE Products then recovers the waste product, which is then dried, ground, milled, and sifted into a fine flour.

RISE Products sells the flour online and to restaurants, for example one in Brooklyn, that uses it to make shortbread cookies.

Why you should care

The company estimates that 42 million tonnes of leftover barley is discarded every year worldwide. While some is repurposed as animal feed and compostable products, little is exploited for its value as food. RISE Products promotes circular production models by helping their partners to move towards zero-waste businesses while creating a nutritious product.

How the Global Goals are addressed

Responsible consumption and production

According to the company, 42 million tonnes of leftover barley is discarded annually by breweries worldwide. RISE Products reduces waste by recycling the spent grain to make nutritious flour.