TerraBio: Brewing New Value from Spent Grain

Terra Bioindustries is converting brewery byproducts into ingredients that support food manufacturing, reduce waste and create new economic opportunities. 

Every time beer is brewed, large volumes of grain are left behind. Known as brewer’s spent grain, 40 million tonnes of this fibre-rich material are produced every single year – and much of it goes unused.  

Terra Bioindustries is working to change that. 

Co-founder and CEO Steve George says, “We take the byproducts from breweries and convert them into real-world ingredients that food and beverage companies can use.” 

Terra sees this as an opportunity to make better use of resources that already exist. Some of the spent grain is used as livestock feed, but a considerable amount still goes to waste.  

By 2050, the world is expected to face a significant gap in food production. While improvements in crop genetics and farming practices will help to increase supply, additional sources of food will likely be needed. 

“We need to tap a different source,” George says. 

Terra Bio has developed an enzymatic process to separate and refine spent grain into usable ingredients for different markets, improving the sustainability and economic viability of the approach. 

One of these products is Terra Malt, a malt syrup for non-alcoholic brewing or sauces. Another is Protina, an ingredient that could be used in baked goods. 

A third product, Terra Choc could replace about 40% of the cocoa used in some baked products. With cocoa prices fluctuating in recent years, this could give Canadian manufacturers a lower-cost alternative to imported cocoa. 

The resulting ingredients are designed to provide practical advantages in food production – including flavour, texture, browning, supply chain resilience and cost reduction. 

In some products, Terra’s ingredients contribute flavour. Malt-derived ingredients, for example, can enhance taste by adding subtle sweetness and roasted notes. 

Texture is another potential benefit. In baked goods, proteins and fibres derived from brewer’s byproducts can influence the structure of the final product, helping to improve mouthfeel and consistency. 

“It’s really about delivering a useful function at the right price,” George says. 

The pet food industry may also be a promising market as animals are naturally drawn to the taste of malt. “Cats and dogs are a good example,” George says. “Our marketing lead has a cat that comes running whenever we open a bag of the protein to take pictures. It’s massively appealing to pets which could give pet food manufacturers a significant advantage.” 

Terra is now focused on scaling its operations in Saskatchewan. The company recently relocated part of its manufacturing operations from Ontario to the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre, where it is increasing production volumes and refining its process. 

As part of this expansion, Terra has worked with Ag-West Bio to help establish a presence in the province. Ag-West Bio also supported the hiring of a Saskatchewan-based team member who now oversees large-scale operations at the Food Centre.  

As part of this scale-up work, Terra is also collaborating with Great Western Brewing Company to build a profitable business upcycling Great Western’s BSG, and potentially incorporating upcycled products like Terra Malt back into brewing beverages like non-alcoholic beer – marking the first time an upcycled ingredient has been used as a base for brewing beverages.  

By converting brewers spent grain into usable ingredients, Terra aims to turn an underused byproduct into a valuable resource. For breweries, this could create new economic value from a material that has traditionally had limited uses.  

For food manufacturers, it offers an alternative ingredient while making better use of local resources. With Terra’s process, the grain left behind after brewing beer may no longer be the end of the story, but the beginning of a new ingredient.