ReGrained

# ReGrained: Food Upcycling Technology Pioneer

High-Level Overview

ReGrained is a food technology and ingredient platform that transforms manufacturing byproducts into nutritious, commercially viable ingredients. Founded by home-brewers, the company uses patented technology co-developed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to rescue brewers' spent grain—a byproduct that would otherwise become waste—and convert it into SuperGrain+, a versatile flour ingredient rich in protein, fiber, and prebiotics.[1][2]

The company operates a dual business model: it manufactures branded consumer products (bars and snacks) to build market awareness, but its primary focus is serving as a business-to-business supplier of upcycled ingredients to food manufacturers.[1] ReGrained positions itself as an innovation partner through its Upcycled Food Lab, helping major food companies like Barilla develop products powered by upcycled ingredients.[3] The company is a certified B Corporation and cofounder of the Upcycled Food Association, reflecting its commitment to environmental and social impact alongside commercial growth.[4][7]

Origin Story

ReGrained was founded by Dan Kurzrock and a co-founder team of home-brewers who identified an opportunity within the brewing industry.[1] The United States generates over 20 billion pounds of brewer's spent grain annually—highly nutritious sprouted grains that become food waste after sugar extraction for beer production.[4] Rather than viewing this as a disposal problem, the founders saw it as a resource to be rescued.

The company's breakthrough came through collaboration with the USDA to develop patented thermo-mechanical processing technology that stabilizes soaked grains while preserving nutritional value and improving taste and aroma compared to conventional methods.[1][2] In 2020 alone, ReGrained rescued over 400,000 pounds of grain, with projections to exceed that figure significantly in subsequent years.[2] A pivotal moment came when the company repositioned its brand messaging: after a school district pulled ReGrained products due to parent concerns about the beer-making origin, leadership realized the product needed to emphasize nutritional benefits rather than its upcycled backstory to succeed at retail.[3]

Core Differentiators

• Patented Technology: ReGrained's thermo-mechanical process, co-developed with the USDA, is the only method of its kind to achieve food-grade stabilization of brewery byproducts at scale.[1][2]

• First-Mover Certification: ReGrained SuperGrain+ became the first ingredient in the world to receive certification from the Upcycled Food Association, establishing market credibility and category leadership.[4]

• Versatile Ingredient Platform: The dry, stable output is suitable for diverse applications—doughs, snacks, extrusions, beverages, and more—making it attractive to manufacturers across food categories.[1] The company has already developed value-added products like protein crisps in partnership with Kerry, delivering 40% protein and 16% fiber.[6]

• Expanding Feedstock: While initially focused on brewers' spent grain, ReGrained is extending its technology to other nutritious byproducts, including oat milk residue and juice pressings, positioning itself as a platform rather than a single-product company.[2][4]

• B2B Innovation Partnership Model: Through the Upcycled Food Lab, ReGrained positions itself as a development partner for food manufacturers seeking to innovate sustainably, moving beyond ingredient supply toward strategic collaboration.[6][7]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

ReGrained operates at the intersection of three powerful trends: food waste reduction, nutritional innovation, and sustainability-driven consumer demand. The company is riding the upcycled food movement at a critical inflection point—as consumers and regulators increasingly scrutinize food waste, companies like ReGrained provide manufacturers with a tangible way to improve environmental credentials while enhancing product nutrition.

The timing is particularly favorable because major food companies face mounting pressure to reduce waste and source sustainable ingredients. By positioning SuperGrain+ as a premium, nutritionally superior ingredient rather than a waste-derived product, ReGrained has transformed a sustainability story into a functional food story—one that resonates with both manufacturers and consumers.[3] The company's vision to become "the next quinoa"—a category-defining ingredient—reflects ambitions to reshape how the food industry views production byproducts.[3]

ReGrained's influence extends beyond its own products: as a cofounder of the Upcycled Food Association and the first company to achieve upcycled certification, it has helped establish standards and legitimacy for an entire emerging category, effectively creating the market infrastructure that benefits competitors and accelerates industry adoption.

Quick Take & Future Outlook

ReGrained is positioned to become a critical infrastructure player in the circular food economy. The company's near-term focus is expanding its ingredient portfolio and extending its technology to additional byproduct streams—moving from a single-feedstock company to a multi-stream platform.[1][4] Strategic partnerships with established food manufacturers like Barilla and Kerry validate the B2B model and provide distribution channels that consumer products alone could not achieve.

The broader opportunity lies in scaling distributed infrastructure: ReGrained envisions deploying its technology on-site at food manufacturers' facilities, reducing transportation costs and carbon footprint while increasing local supply resilience.[1] As regulatory pressure on food waste intensifies and sustainability becomes a competitive differentiator, companies that can deliver both environmental and nutritional benefits—like ReGrained—will likely see accelerating adoption.

The question ahead is whether ReGrained can execute its platform expansion while maintaining the quality and brand equity it has built around SuperGrain+. Success requires balancing the complexity of managing multiple feedstock streams with the simplicity of a clear market narrative. If executed well, ReGrained could evolve from an innovative ingredient company into the foundational technology platform for the upcycled food industry.