The brewery sector is a clear example of bio-based industries where large amounts of low-value or underused organic solid by-products such as bagasse, wastewater, and biogenic gases such as CO2 and methane (CH4), are underused or even a wastage of valuable carbon, which represents unique and unexploited business opportunities.

Therefore, the presence of Mahou San Miguel (feedstock provider), Aqualia (disinfectant user), Proteinsecta (insect producer) and Symrise AG (cosmetic ingredients manufacturer) within the CHEERS consortium will support the development of new biotechnology-based value chains, thus help bringing new bio-based products closed to the market. The expected results from CHEERS have the potential to be implemented in other bio-based industries (Food & Beverage, bioethanol, biogas, wastewater, and waste treatment).

CHEERS biorefinery conversion bioprocesses are inspired and supported by natural biological processes engineered into 2 innovative bio-based conversion platforms: insect and microbial-based. End-users of CHEERS ingredients will be mainly companies using these products as feedstocks for other industrial processes as human nutrition, sanitation, animal feed, petfood, and cosmetics.

The insect platform

Insects have been identified by the EU in its Farm-to-fork-Strategy as one of the main future sources of protein. Insect production using optimized diets from bagasse and other brewery side-streams represents an effective, sustainable but poorly explored alternative for the breeding and conversion of Tenebrio Molitor (the insect with the highest potential for mass production) into high-quality biomass.

More specifically, the insect platform supports the bioconversion of bagasse to an insect protein ingredient to produce 2 protein rich drinks. The design of the insect demo platform will be based on WP1. Its performance will be evaluated through ad hoc formulated diets using real site side-streams (mainly bagasse) and based on physical-chemical and nutritional and storage conditions analysis.

The insect platform will consist of a demo bioconversion unit from bagasse and other brewery side streams to produce insects with high nutritional value, which will be processed at demo scale into a marketable smoothie with high nutritional value and protein-rich aqueous drink (the proteins in the new drinks will provide at least 20% of the energy value of the food, allowing it to be labelled as a food with a “high protein content”).

The microbial platform

CHEERS will also exploit the potential of microbes to produce another innovative biomass and other bioproducts. On the one hand, CO2 emitted during beer fermentation, together with wastewater, spent yeast and other solid organic waste from beer processes, will be used to elongate caproic acid which will be used in feed ingredients development. On the other hand, CO2 from beer fermentation will be used to both, produce chlorine and, with CH4 coming from previous anaerobic digestions, to produce microorganism that will be used as Single Cell Proteins for pet food, and ectoine to be used as cosmetics ingredient.

Mahou San Miguel is the project coordinator and exploitation leader jointly with 11 partners of 5 European countries, including technology suppliers, end-users, and research entities.

CHEERS will develop a novel concept which will contribute to a “zero-waste” biorefinery approach. All CHEERS value chains are based on new bioprocesses and innovative biofermentors combined with sustainable downstream processes, which will be validated at demo scale at an industrial brewery. This approach is fully aligned with the EU Green Deal, Circular Economy Action Plan and the Bioeconomy Strategy, and foster the understanding of biotechnology-based value chains through the engagement of relevant actors, from small bio-based industries to consumers.