Creating nutritious, sustainable snacks from rescued natural resources

This article is part of the 'Celebrating Circular` initiative and story collection that spotlights trailblazer Irish businesses making strides towards a more sustainable and low-carbon economy.

Looking at waste as a potentially valuable resource is at the heart of the Circular Economy, and the agri-food sector is one of the hotspots where this approach can be highly beneficial.

Patrick Nagle and his partner Sunkyung Choi, or as everyone calls her, Sun, are not food scientists or sustainability experts, yet they have embarked on a journey to create a business that embraces circularity in food production.

They launched Well Spent Garin in 2022, a start-up that turns spent grain, a byproduct from the brewing process, into delicious, healthy, and sustainable snacks while diverting tons of waste that would otherwise end up in landfills and adding to carbon emissions.

Brewer’s spent grain (BSG) is a byproduct of the brewing process that accounts for approximately 85% of the waste produced by a brewery.

However, building this circular business goes beyond spotting a market opportunity.

Having to ration their water supplies for two days to go on without access to fresh water was an experience that sparked the thought of learning more about climate change and how they can take meaningful action.

After investigating and experimenting with various options, they came up with the Born Again Bites snack as a sustainable alternative.

Building a circular business model from scratch

Regarding overcoming challenges in building up their business, Sun says: “We received wonderful support from the South Dublin LEO, which helped with finance and mentoring, as well as access to networking and promotional opportunities.”

She adds that participating in the MODOS sustainable business training programme was also beneficial for expanding their knowledge and gaining valuable insights on building a more circular business model.

“Each session was practical, enabling me to directly apply the learning to our start-up. For instance, applying the design thinking approach to scaling up provided me with a fresh perspective,” she shares.

Sun particularly enjoyed learning through case studies and networking with other participants, getting to know different aspects of circularity and other areas, such as effective storytelling techniques.

“Production is a big bottleneck for our business. We need to reach a point where we can justify larger premises and professional processing to move away from the slower and less effective ‘kitchen-based’ production.”

A creative touch to share the wonders of spent grain

Although spent grain has excellent nutritional values, as it is high in fibre and proteins and contains vitamins and minerals, its use is still underutilised.

Patrick shares that educating their audience and ensuring people understand what makes Born Again Bites a better choice is one of the most crucial areas they need to work on.

“We started a collaboration with another Irish start-up, Bold Donut, specialising in gamification, to create an online mini-game that takes players on a journey to explore where spent grain is coming from and what makes our product a more sustainable and healthier option,” Patrick says.

He adds that this playful approach is a great addition to their communication, which they plan to boost to reach a wider audience and spark interest.

Sun further explains that creating brand awareness as a small company with a limited budget in a crowded market and cutting through the noise requires more creativity.

Scaling with a positive impact

So far, Well Spent Grain has received multiple recognitions, including winning the silver medal at the 2023 National Startup Awards in the Food Drink category, being shortlisted for the Emerging Category at the RDS Circular Economy Awards in 2024, and Sun making it to the finals for the 2024 IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards in the Sustainability Champion of the Year category.

While they are striving to further develop the enterprise and create more products, Sun shares that it means more to them than just achieving business KPIs: “I worked for a corporation for over ten years and felt empty. Now, I’m more fulfilled, and I really like the fact that I`m doing something meaningful and making things better. We are mindful that scaling our business means scaling our impact, so we aim to get more involved with local communities and create value.”