Toast Ale
What is the social problem they are targeting?
The social issues that Toast Ale is directly addressing is the fact that “One-third of food
produced for human consumption is being wasted each year, with developing countries experiencing more waste at post-harvest and processing, and developed countries experiencing more waste in retail and end consumption.” This alarming fact about food waste shows the need of a proper and innovative waste management in every community.
Toast Ale is also indirectly addressing the social problem of unemployment: the 2011 census established that the unemployment rate reached 23,9% in Cape Town.
What solution do they provide?
This made Bianca decide to start the Toast Ale adventure in South Africa in November 2017. Indeed, the Toast Ale brand was born in the United Kingdom, but Bianca took the opportunity to bring it to Cape Town because she saw a pressing social need. Toast Ale is a locally craft beer brewed with artisanal bread surplus that otherwise is going to end up in the landfills. It is a for-profit business, but the profits go to Soil for Life, an initiative that trains unemployed South Africans to become food gardeners and to make a living from it.
“The aim of the beer is to use a waste product to create a new product. So, we try creating awareness about how much food waste there is globally and locally, and then showing that there are alternatives to this waste. So, by using it to create new products instead of using raw materials.” (Bianca, Toast Ale SA founder).
What are their current and potential social impacts?
The main social impact Toast Ale is bringing to Cape Town is that it is an original waste management initiative. Since their beginning they have saved 1 000 kg of surplus bread. The aim of this social entrepreneurship is to create awareness mainly among end consumers, about the sustainable alternatives to our daily consumption.
Furthermore, with the donations they have made to Soil for Life they managed to empower 4 home gardeners that can know feed 6 people each. This making a total of 24 people fed.
Toast Ale is currently working on new products to diversify the types of waste they manage. For instance, to address the challenge of fruit waste, they are planning on creating a new cider.
“When you are drinking Toast you are actually contributing to a better planet and a better society.” (Bianca, Toast Ale SA founder)