A conversation around “Be the Change: AI Unlocks Nutrition for Brewer’s Spent Grain Protein” featuring Jacqueline Hochreiter of EverGrain with AIFS Board Member, Harold Schmitz.

Artificial Intelligence has become almost synonymous with innovation. This is uniquely showcased by AB InBev’s EverGrain: a sustainable ingredient business that upcycles spent brewer’s grain into saved grain. At the core of their project is tapping into the potential of carbon neutrality by turning a manufacturing byproduct into an alternative protein source. Jacqueline Hochrieter, the Director of Sustainability & Marketing for AB InBev’s EverGrain, joined AIFS Board Member, Harold Schmitz for a discussion as part of AIFS’ Spring 2023 Speaker Series. The AIFS Speaker Series features thought leaders addressing food system challenges using artificial intelligence. This spring’s series is themed around AI opportunities in food waste reduction. The work of EverGrain illustrates how waste can be repurposed as a marketable food commodity and how the infusion of AI opens the door to endless nutritional possibilities.

EverGrain’s innovation pipeline went from observation to market rollout in under ten years. Jacqueline is quick to point out that as a legacy company, they have access to certain benefits for both proof of concept and ability to market the results. The genesis of their idea came in 2013 when AB InBev posed the question of discarded barley as a protein solution. With millions going hungry across the planet and being positioned as a multinational corporation– what if brewing beer could help mitigate hunger? Technology was built and acquired and by 2016 spent brewer’s grain was being translated into a high value protein with a myriad of diverse applications. As a legacy company harnessing the computing power of AI as an innovation accelerator, EverGrain’s pilot projects were able to be scaled, and by 2021 they were able to build a dedicated processing facility in Missouri. 

Harold Schmitz, AIFS Industrial Advisory Board Chair, asked Jacqueline what they are most excited about the interface of AI with their product. She queried, “How can [innovation] be done right from the beginning?” From the cultivation of barley in dedicated plots around the world to the translation of the brewer’s byproduct into marketable products, EverGrain is collecting data. Jacqueline calls it the “future of food”: embedding data upfront. For EverGrain, part of the upcycle process is not only turning waste into food, but capturing data. In doing so, the project is scalable, replicable, and a best practice example on a new way to do business. Their project is not without challenges, however. As our world plays catchup on environmental and social implications from science and industry, universal regulations and standards on waste need to become uniform, more widely adopted, and turned into a usable framework. Until this is done, admirable global efforts like EverGrain will not be properly quantified.

Part of AIFS’ mandate is to build better food systems and supply chain resiliency. Harold noted that our food system is in silos and that limits innovation. AB InBev’s barley growers and massive breweries are collecting data. As we learned from our last speaker, Elizabeth Vaughan, small farmers are also starting to collect data. How do we as a global community share data in a safe way to make open innovation within reach? EverGrain is an example of private business working with the research community to harness the latest technology toward the benefit of society and the planet. Several of the AIFS Year Three research projects focus on working with the food industry on data collection. Building on research from Year One and Two where data collection was begun with the California farm community, AIFS research projects will broaden the data collection to food industry professionals, other AgTech developers, and regulators. These exciting projects will address gaps in nutrition information and strengthen overall infrastructure for supply chain resiliency. Stay tuned for the announcement for AIFS’ innovative new projects selected for Year Three.

The AIFS Speaker Series continues this spring. Check out our upcoming speakers and register for these talks at https://aifs.ucdavis.edu/spring-speaker-series-2023/

View the recording of Jacqueline’s talk:

https://youtu.be/ZbmCjSZurAQ