"It tastes like dry champagne"

"Dry champagne" or "pleasantly sour and refreshing" are the most common opinions after tasting the soft drink prepared by our the REBREAD team.

The sunny colour of the liquid in the glass attracts those interested. The appearance is somewhat reminiscent of freshly pressed juice with a snow-white foam. 

It is a drink made from stale bread. It may come as a surprise at first, but it is not a modern invention, but something that has been with people in this part of Europe for centuries.

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Kvass soft drink

Kvass is the result of fermenting bread with a natural baker's sourdough starter and water. After just a few days, an effervescent and pleasantly refreshing drink can be obtained.

There is, however, something special about the one REBREAD serves us that makes it stand out from other drinks of its kind. For the fermentation of the kvass bread drink, we use unsold bread. So everyone who drinks a glass of kvass bread drink contributes to the fight against food waste.

Kvass in the market vs REBREAD's kvass

In most cases on the market, the production of kvass bread drink is based on malt concentrates and pasteurisation rather than classic fermentation. It unfortunately results in very sweet taste and poorer health-promoting properties of the drink. As a result, the genuine and traditionally fermented beverage is hardly available and the drink itself is not very popular. This is a pity, because sourdough is the quintessence of healthy drinking and the perfect solution for unused bread, and thus a way to reduce wasted food. So why not return to this tradition on a wider scale?

The kvass bread drink prepared by REBREAD and available for open licence is a natural source of probiotic bacterial strains, B vitamins, antioxidants, polyphenols and organic acids. It contains naturally occurring sugars. The sunny colour is the result of natural ingredients, not artificial colourings. Once the fermentation process is complete, you get a drink with the flavour of crusty homemade bread. If you want to impart other flavours, at the end of fermentation you can enrich the base with additives such as herbs or fruit. It all depends on the idea and our tastes.

‍Not only soft drinks 

For more than a year, we have been working intensively to gather, refine and organise all the possibilities in which rescued bread can be used. At the end of 2022, a bread-based biofilament for 3D printers was successfully created. We are also working on cosmetics, but food products are the biggest priority.

"It is important to look for solutions according to the principles of the hierarchy of dealing with surplus food, so first, right after reducing production and redistribution, we should process food into products suitable for human consumption. Only then to animal feed or cosmetics," emphasises Ewa Jarosz, Rebread's project manager in charge of coordinating the start-up's research and products.  "We know that bread can be used in the production of biogas or fertilisers, but according to the principles of the Food Waste Pyramid system, it is food products, and in this case kvass bread drink, that has priority."

Among other things, bread is a source of carbohydrates (starch), protein (gluten), B and E vitamins and other valuable micronutrients (iron, calcium, zinc, magnesium). It also has binding, thickening and cohesive properties. All this makes bread great for upcycling, as it can be used to create a diverse range of products.

Rebread's open licence

"We are a micro-manufacturer and have no plans to enter industrial production. Our aim is to research, study and develop formulations and product strategies and then license our know-how to others, sometimes even under open licences." explains Bartłomiej Rak

The finished recipe for REBREAD's kvass bread drink can be shared with all those interested in their own production, including under their own brand. Contact us to receive a free licence.

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