Key activities and achievements in 2024
1. Launch of the industry report ‘Crumbling the Barriers’
At the beginning of the year, we published our first industry report, ‘Crumbling The Barriers: How Companies are Transforming Surplus Bread into Innovative Products’, which shines a light on the potential of using unsold bread in the food sector. The release of the report aimed to highlight the current activities of start-ups and companies in the global and especially European market. All the actors described are transforming unsold bakery products into valuable products. Together with them, we are crumbling barriers in the food industry so that unsold bakery products become part of production processes again! Sustainable solutions described in the report include the use of bread in the production of snacks, beer or alternative plant proteins. The report has been well received in the industry (110 downloads from around the world!) and we hope it has become a reference for innovators looking to turn their surplus into valuable products.
2. Activity at international industry events
We have been present at important industry events, where we have met a lot of companies interested in sustainable production and consolidated valuable contacts in the European arena:
- Big Meet x Gastronord in Stockholm
- Food Tech Congress in Warsaw
- ImpactCEE in Poznań
Our presence allowed us to showcase our technologies at dedicated stands, strengthen cooperation with existing partners and gain new contacts in the food and cosmetics industry.
3. Product and technological innovation
In 2024, we have implemented a series of innovative projects:
- As part of the EIT Food Affordable Nutrition Scale-Up Challenge and in collaboration with Blendhub, we prepared a technology to produce a bakery mix from surplus bread (Q1-Q3).
- We validated the technology for the use of the edible mould CrumbsUp and the production of fermented probiotic beverages based on new substrates such as croutons and rusks (Q2-Q3).
- We introduced our core technology to the Moldovan bakery market thanks to UNDP and the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Q2-Q4). Read our case study!
- Together with Ecobean, Cyrkl and the University of Warsaw, we implemented the project ‘Food 2 Good - Avoiding Food Products Becoming a Waste Anymore’, funded by EIT Food RIS. As part of the project, we implemented a pilot reverse logistics process for coffee grounds and surplus bread. Partners in the process in Warsaw include Gorąco Polecam, Baken and Goodspeed. We will introduce an analogous solution in 2025 in Prague, Czech Republic. In addition, we have produced a test batch of probiotic and postbiotic beverages based on upcycled caffeine and surplus bread.
- Our probiotic drinks have been entered into the BIOECO-UP (Circular BioEconomy Market Uptake and Policy Support in Central Europe) project, funded by the Interreg Central Europe Programme, which aims to promote bioproducts and evaluate them by consumers using the Living Labs methodology. We will soon know the results!
- Thanks to our collaboration with Novonesis - the world's largest supplier of probiotics - we have started research to develop an innovative pasteurised beverage. While pasteurised, the beverage will contain live probiotic bacteria and will have a long shelf life outside the fridge!
Activities in the past year have paved the way for the implementation of our solutions on a larger scale with our customers and partners, as well as preparing for further technology development in international projects planned for 2025.
4. Sustainability expertise development
We worked intensively to develop our sustainability expertise as part of the SoTecIn Factory programme (Q1-Q3). SoTecIn supported us in terms of governance, circular business model, capacity building, fundraising and use of funds, and pre-market project preparation for retailers. Although we did not make it to the final accelerator stage (the competition was strong!), participating in the programme allowed us to broaden our knowledge of sustainable operations in line with the needs of the market and international clients.
5. Financial support and rewards
Our key technologies - CrumbsUp and Krast soft drinks - gained financial support from EIT Food through the Affordable Nutrition Scale-Up Challenge, Impact Funding Framework and EIT Food RIS (CEE Open Innovation Call), which significantly accelerated their further development.
The end of the year also brought us other good news. Our innovative beverages based on surplus bread received a recommendation for funding for a joint project with foreign partner ETH Zürich in the CALL 2024 competition under the Swiss-Polish Cooperation Programme (NCBR). Keep your fingers crossed!
In addition, we received prestigious awards:
- Leader of the Circular Economy from Stena Recycling Poland
- Forbes Poland Circularity Leader
- Outgenia Startup Award as an agrifood startup that drives innovation in the Spanish agrifood value chain
In October, we were additionally nominated as a startup for the Economic Award of the President of the Republic of Poland. This prestigious award is given to companies that contribute to the development of the Polish economy, follow the principles of responsible business, promote a positive image of the country and are a role model for other companies. Congratulations to the PayEye startup for winning the award!
6. Development of consultancy services
In response to growing market demand, we have expanded our R&D offering to include consultancy services aimed at developing product concepts (NPD) for foreign companies. Our services are aimed at large manufacturing entities looking for the most effective solutions for managing surplus and side streams of bakery production.
Plans for 2025
2025 promises to be an intensive year! We plan to both continue to develop our existing projects and introduce new initiatives. Our priorities for the coming year are:
Expansion of the laboratory team - we are increasing our lab resources to accelerate the development of innovative technologies for our partners. New employees will support us in development projects, including the development of CrumbsUp technology under Impact Framework Funding and the preparation of new bakery recipes. We have completed our recruitment processes at the end of 2024, but we will be open to taking on more competent staff as and where necessary.
Technology licensing - we want to continue to increase the availability of our solutions by generating licences to deploy them in new market segments. With the support of the Startup Booster for Social Impact at SWPS University, we plan to expand our website with a technology licensing system, ready to be downloaded by B2B partners.
Launch of a pilot batch of post-biotic beverages - we continue to develop innovative beverages under Food 2 Good that fit into global healthy eating trends. In the spring, we will launch our first commercial batch of Krast Coffee & Orange health-promoting energy drinks to the local market.
Focus on cosmetics - we are starting to make a strong push into the cosmetics sector, using our bakery raw material preservation technologies in a new product category. Our first cosmetic, a scrub under the Floura brand, has been receiving continued interest from the cosmetics industry. We will soon prove that upcycled ingredients are a must-have for all environmentally and consumer-oriented brands and a great alternative to primary raw materials.
Sharing our know-how - we continuously support our customers and partners by sharing our knowledge and experience to work together towards sustainability. By working together, we can ensure that precious raw materials such as unsold bread are fully utilised and introduce the principles of a circular economy in the food and cosmetics industries.
A big THANK YOU to everyone who supports our mission to save bread. Special thanks in the past year go to: Novonesis, IUNG, ETH Zurich, our mentors, project partners and investors. It is a pleasure to work with you!
We would also like to thank the guests and visitors from Poland and abroad who visited our laboratory last year, including students from the Cracow University of Economics, the French Ride2Change project and members of the international BIOECO-UP consortium. We are delighted that Rebread's activities are generating interest and raising awareness of the problem of bread waste.
We invite you to follow our activities on Linkedin and to work with us!
