Transformative sustainability

It is evident that sustainability is deeply embedded in the company values. For example, they are unwilling to compromise on the location of their facilities because there are high emissions from transporting a by-product that is approximately 70 percent water long distances. The co-location of micro factories in urban environments also supports keeping jobs centrally located and connected to the local community. While this decision means that the industrial space located in Vancouver is more expensive, and therefore will take more time to acquire as they grow, it is a strategy that is important to the founders. Susgrainable deeply embeds sustainability and well-being into their business model with almost every decision being put through a lens of how they can be doing better.

Though they are a young company, Susgrainable is sharing their knowledge and is already looked at as experts in this emerging space. They have been called on by fellow entrepreneurs and organizations for their expertise on putting circular economy principles into practice. They have also run workshops at Universities and in local high schools to teach about the circular economy and how their business model transforms the way we look at food waste.

Susgrainable Health Foods Inc. is a start-up in Vancouver that transforms spent grain from craft breweries into sustainable flour and baked goods. The flour and baked goods from spent grain are high fibre, high protein and low sugar, making them healthier alternatives from those that use traditional flours.

Their mission is to provide a creative solution to food waste and high sugar consumption in our diets. Susgrainable has values for people, the planet, and their community that influence their decisions.

With a passion for impact, they take every opportunity to educate their community. Through innovative school workshops, speaking events, and their direct consumer education, they are sharing the principles of the circular economy and highlighting the alarming rates of food waste in Canada.

How does a company start turning beer waste into baked goods, you ask? When the founders of Susgrainable learned about the high-value spent grain waste that is a by-product of making craft beer, they sought out to find a solution. This began as a university project and continued on to become an innovative business model, serving up healthier, more sustainable baked goods local to Vancouver. They evaluated opportunities from using it as an energy source to making coasters, but ultimately, the high quality grain that was grown for food could be kept in the food system to maintain its highest utility.

Spent grain is high fibre, high protein, and low sugar. Preventing the spent grain from going to waste is both good for the planet and better for our diets. Marc, one of Susgrainable’s founders, comes from a health background, so he is passionate about creating healthier products that help people eat more fibre and less sugar. When products go unsold, Susgrainable looks for opportunities to donate them to help fight food insecurity locally.

Pathway maps represent the sequence businesses followed to implement successful sustainability practices and identify emerging ones within firms. The pathways also reveal the diversity of actors that begin to form sustainability enabling ecosystems for businesses to adopt, deploy or test sustainability practices.