Swedish plant-based food company The Green Dairy has developed a burger made from upcycled oat drink residues, served for the first time at the Way Out West music festival in Sweden this month.

The Green Dairy produces plant-based food and beverage products – primarily oat-based beverages, cooking products and ice cream made from oats and fava beans – for brand owners and retailers in the Nordic region.

A 2023 study by the Swedish Board of Agriculture revealed that around 20 to 50% of raw material residues generated within the food industry, which end up as animal feed or waste, have the potential to be converted into food.

Thanks to its pilot equipment for drying residual mass – technology the company describes as a ‘world-first’ – The Green Dairy has developed the veggie burgers made from ReOat, its upcycled ingredient made from oat drink residues. They have been served exclusively at Way Out West festival as an example of how residues can be used to create sustainable food products following circular economy principles.

The Green Dairy Innovation CEO, Catarina Englund, said the company's goal is to create a more circular food system, where no part of the raw materials go to waste.

She commented: “In our circular production model all high-quality ingredients are used, resulting in food with a complete protein profile and high fibre content. Through our collaboration with Way Out West, we are showing the public and industry how great the food of the future can taste.”

Johan Girdo has recently been appointed as The Green Dairy’s new chief executive. For the past ten years, Girdo has served as president of EMEA for Swedish alt-dairy giant Oatly, helping to propel its growth across the region.

“The industry has tried to find ways to make use of its residues to create a more circular food production for a long time,” Girdo said. “Residues that go to animal feed or are burned as biogas serve a purpose but do not solve the issue of a circular food system that needs to feed more people in the long run. Our investment in research and innovation has paid off, the technology works, and we are now ready to scale up.”

Girdo explained that The Green Dairy hopes its circular production model will inspire the industry, adding that the company welcomes collaboration with other food companies. “By utilising residues we can feed more people, reduce environmental impact and boost profitability,” he concluded.

#TheGreenDairy #Sweden