“Transforming Spent Barley: EverGrain’s Quest to Revolutionize Food and Beverage Protein Sources”
ST. LOUIS — Just a hundred yards from the massive 142-acre Anheuser-Busch brewery, spent barley, once utilized in brewing beers like Michelob Ultra and Bud Light, is embarking on a new phase of its journey. Each day, hundreds of pounds of this brown slurry, previously destined for animal feed or landfills, travel through a long silver pipeline that connects the brewery to EverGrain, a startup established in 2020 by the beer giant. At EverGrain, the barley is processed for future use in various foods and beverages.
Greg Belt, a former global vice president for sustainability at AB InBev who now leads EverGrain, has often been told that his idea is impractical or a waste of time. However, he is on the verge of proving his skeptics wrong while simultaneously addressing millions of pounds of food waste. “We can only make a difference in the world when we scale up and incorporate these ingredients into consumer products,” Belt stated from EverGrain’s headquarters. “Over the next five to ten years, barley will become a significant source of protein alongside soy and pea in the market.”
EverGrain’s barley protein is marketed under the brand name EverPro. This powder is being integrated into a wide range of products, including crackers through a collaboration with Post Holdings; Nestlé’s nutritional food supplement brand, Garden of Life; and a nonalcoholic beer from Athletic Brewing. The company is also actively working with other brands to incorporate EverPro into various products such as ice cream, nut butter, sports nutrition drinks, and endurance bars.
However, EverPro faces several challenges before it can achieve the same level of market presence as peas and soybeans in food and beverages. Major food manufacturers want to ensure that the product can be supplied at a sufficiently large scale to avoid supply chain issues, a challenge that Belt claims EverGrain has overcome. Additionally, larger producers are often hesitant to invest in reformulating existing products, which is why they typically introduce EverPro in new product launches.
Belt noted that many large consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers, who have had to settle for other plant-based options, approach something innovative like used barley with caution. To alleviate these concerns, EverGrain creates prototypes of products made with EverPro to showcase the taste, protein content, and solubility to potential clients. He mentioned that his company is collaborating with major food companies—though he refrained from naming them or the items in development—and he “wouldn’t be surprised” if products featuring EverPro hit the shelves later this fall or in spring 2024.
Currently, the Missouri facility serves as a proof of concept while ramping up production and AB InBev evaluates future demand for EverPro. Although EverGrain is not yet profitable, it is projected to reach that milestone by late 2024 after expanding its production capacity. “Since we’re utilizing a byproduct, the bar for profitability is relatively low,” Belt remarked.
Mark Sorrells, a plant breeding and genetics professor at Cornell University, commended EverGrain’s commitment to sustainability and suggested that its barley offerings could pique consumer interest due to their novelty. “Spent grains have been used for livestock feed for decades,” Sorrells said. “What EverGrain is doing sounds quite innovative.”
Globally, the brewing industry generates around 9 million metric tons of used grain annually, with approximately 16%—or 1.4 million metric tons—originating from AB InBev, as noted by Belt. At the company’s St. Louis brewery, one of the largest in the world, spent barley reaches EverGrain about ten minutes after being discharged (currently, EverGrain utilizes only about 20% of the leftover grain from St. Louis). Once it arrives at a 118-year-old facility that once served as a fermentation cellar, EverGrain processes the barley through a complex system of pipes and tanks, some holding up to 60,000 gallons, where it is dried and filtered to extract the mid-sized proteins needed—a process that takes 12 to 24 hours. To minimize its environmental impact, EverGrain employs reverse osmosis to recycle water and sources renewable energy from Anheuser-Busch.
As the sole owner of EverGrain, AB InBev provides a multitude of advantages for the startup. It not only supplies funding through its venture arm, ZX Ventures, but also offers crucial support in technology, food safety, and quality assurance. The beer giant’s global presence grants EverGrain instant credibility and the potential to significantly scale up production to meet demand when necessary. “This has been a tremendous guiding light for us,” Belt said. “It has enabled us to accelerate our growth far more quickly than a typical startup without such backing.”
Moreover, EverPro boasts several advantages that enhance its appeal compared to other protein sources like whey or plant-based alternatives. The product is cost-competitive, carries a sustainability advantage, and has lower astringency than many plant-based options. EverPro is easily digestible, rich in fiber and minerals, and possesses anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties—further solidifying its status as a functional food ingredient. It also behaves similarly to dairy proteins, making it easy for manufacturers to substitute it in their formulations.
EverPro’s low viscosity and high solubility allow substantial amounts of the ingredient to be incorporated into products like energy drinks, boosting protein levels to nearly 40 grams. This feat was previously achievable only in traditional dairy offerings such as Coca-Cola’s Fairlife or newer clear whey protein drinks like IsoPure. “If we weren’t addressing key problems, we wouldn’t see this commercial traction,” Belt stated.
While ingredients like peas often have flavor or color limitations that restrict their use in various products, EverPro initially faced similar challenges. Its original formulation featured a dark brown color and flavors reminiscent of caramel, coffee, and cereal, making it more suitable for products like coffee or chocolate. EverGrain has refined the spent barley to minimize its color and taste while retaining the beneficial nutrients.
EverGrain’s facility, which underwent a $100 million renovation last year, is capable of producing around 7,000 tons of EverPro annually. However, Belt mentioned that the company is not fully utilizing its capacity, leaving room to collaborate with other food and beverage manufacturers or increase supply for existing partners if any of their products gain popularity. For some smaller companies, EverPro can constitute up to 90% of their formulations.
“Some of the feedback we received was, ‘Greg, ensure you’re there for me. I’m committed to you as you grow, so make sure you’re there when my product takes off,'” Belt said. “You need multiple lottery tickets. If one hits, you have to be able to support it, so there’s an optimal threshold—having too many bets can lead to trouble.” Additionally, products like Trader Joe’s calcium citrate may find a place alongside EverPro as the marketplace continues to evolve.
