Crispbread and beer - a popular flavor combination, but also two products with several common denominators. Sälens Fjällbryggeri and Pyramidbageriet have taken this into account when they each created a new product using each other's waste.
- "A textbook example of smart circularity," says David Levrén, head of Food Innovation in Dalarna at Dalarna Science Park.
David Levrén and his colleagues meet many food entrepreneurs around the county and work to strengthen their profitability and competitiveness. This can include sharpening business models or, as in this case, the circular and innovative use of side streams.
Quality product
Pyramidbageriet was founded in 1991 by Emad Bayoumy and Karin Bertils. It is located in Dala Järna, more precisely in Hulån, and in the bakery Egyptian and Swedish bread culture meet. The result is a unique crispbread that has won many awards over the years.
Anna Bayoumy is the daughter of the two founders and was more or less born in the crispbread dough, as she puts it.
Anna is currently responsible for Pyramid Bakery's marketing and communication. She also runs a number of creative business projects, including one she calls local symbiosis.
- This is where I got the idea to collaborate with a local brewery because beer and crispbread have so much in common. My goal was to make something good out of our waste as it is still a quality product, even if it can be a bit burnt and broken.
Anna mentioned the idea at a meeting with David, who immediately recommended that she contact Pelle Hoffman, owner of Sälens Fjällbryggeri.
- It was all so easy and so quick! I called Pelle and he was very positive, so we worked out a recipe together. And just a few days later, I packed my Volvo full of waste from our spelt bread and headed up to Sälen.
Anna's choice of spelt was no coincidence, she says.
- Spelt, or dinkel as it is also known, is a cultivated cereal that is favorable for crop rotation which in turn is the basis of sustainable farms with healthy soil.
Anna then seasoned the spelt bread roll with nigella, a flavorful seed that Pyramid Bakery uses in its product "Delicatessen Crisp with Black Cumin". Nigella is the Latin name for black cumin.
Spicy aroma
Pelle Hoffman founded Sälens Fjällbryggeri in 2012, but started brewing beer on a small scale much earlier.
- Brewing beer requires barley malt, water, hops and yeast. In the new beer, the bread pellet has replaced about 15% of the barley malt, he explains.
Sälens Fjällbryggeri has an assortment of craft beers ranging from traditional lager and IPA to fruit beers and heavier stouts.
- About ten varieties are standard, then seasonal beers and other more occasional varieties are added, Pelle says.
The collaboration between Pyramidbageriet and Sälens Fjällbryggeri has now resulted in "Fjällöl av knäckebröd", a beer in the form of spicy steam beer, i.e. a hot fermented lager.
The beer has recently been launched in local Systembolaget stores, so it is too early to say how it will be received by customers.
- Personally, I like it to be herbal and flavorful. The spiciness of nigella is present in the aroma, but it does not take over, says Pelle.
Anna agrees and suggests pouring the beer into glasses to best take in the taste and aroma with your nose.
- The beer goes particularly well with fish and shellfish, but also with a cracker sandwich with priest cheese. Very tasty!
Short take-off distance
While Anna, Pelle and brewery manager Sofia Bergqvist were brewing the mountain beer from crispbread together, they had another idea: to bake wort crispbread in the Pyramid Bakery using the waste from the brewing process.
- To close the circle, so to speak. And wort is sweet, much like honey water, so it felt both fun and natural to try baking with it, Anna thinks.
A first batch of the crispbread is already on the shelves of Pyramid Bakery's own store, as a test.
- This will allow us to gather feedback from our local customers, so it will be exciting to hear what they think about the taste.
David Levrén sees many benefits to the collaboration between the two producers, including an interesting story to share.
- We know that our taste experiences are greatly influenced by what we know about what we eat and drink, so it's good that Anna and Pelle have included the story on labels and in other marketing.
David believes that the collaboration between Pyramidbageriet and Sälens Fjällbryggeri would probably have come about even without Food Innovation in Dalarna, but Anna believes that the starting distance would have been longer.
- The network we get access to via Dalarna Science Park is very valuable. We get a super good sounding board on many issues, not least regarding the generational change that we are facing. Everyone who works with Food Innovation is very knowledgeable and nice," says Anna.
Are you also a food entrepreneur looking to develop new ideas and partnerships?
Find out more and book a free meeting with our Food Innovation advisors. Business development - food businesses
Pyramidbageriet has taken part in the offers Dalarna Science Parks has aimed at food companies that are funded by the European Union and Region Dalarna.
