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In the vibrant landscape of Hong Kong's craft beer scene, Breer stands out for its innovative approach to sustainability by transforming surplus bread into craft beer, while tackling Hong Kong’s pressing issue of food waste. The company was founded by Naman Tekriwal and Anushka Purohit while studying at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. After individually signing up for Enactus – a competition organised by an international non-profit promoting social entrepreneurship – Breer’s founders came together with the same mindset of wanting to run a company, though they didn’t have a clear objective at first.
Tekirwal explains that Breer was born from serendipity. During a late-night meal at a bakery, the team saw staff packing unsold bread to be thrown away, which sparked their curiosity to learn more about Hong Kong’s food wastage problems. A week later, they learnt about kvass – beer made from fermented bread – after chatting to a bartender in Lan Kwai Fong. And thus, Breer was born. “That was the eureka moment for us,” Tekriwal recalls. “We saw the bread waste problem a week ago, and [a week later] we saw that alcohol can be made from bread.”
As a population of over seven and a half million people, Hong Kong wastes 3,600 tons of food daily with the two main contributors being rice and bread. “[Knowing] that really shook us and we knew we wanted to do something about it for Enactus,” Tekriwal reflects. Despite not having physical products to showcase during their pitch, Breer’s team captured the judges’ interest and won $10,000 to launch their venture.
"For the longest time, the industry didn’t take us seriously."
However, the road to establishing Breer came with many obstacles. Shortly after starting the company, the pandemic disrupted Hong Kong’s alcohol brewing industry. But they were unphased by their circumstances, busy with developing their first recipes using a beer-brewing kit purchased from Amazon. “I started tinkering in my kitchen like a mad scientist. I still remember my mom scolding me because I blew up grains all over the kitchen ceiling,” Tekriwal recalls with a chuckle. “We had no chemistry background at all, but we were so driven by the purpose of solving Hong Kong’s food waste problem that we were determined to learn all we could.” The partners have truly come a long way in learning about beer manufacturing, going “from knowing absolutely nothing, to now knowing five different variations of fructose.”
While sourcing surplus bread from bakeries and companies around Hong Kong came relatively easily for the team, Tekriwal revealed that one of Breer’s biggest hurdles was convincing breweries to take on their ideas and produce beer using their recipes, not only because of how drastically different Breer’s brewing process was, but also due to their age. “For the longest time, the industry didn’t take us seriously. They would think ‘These are just a couple of kids just trying to do a school project’, but we really wanted to build a company out of our concept.”
"We were so driven by the purpose of solving Hong Kong’s food waste problem that we were determined to learn all we could."
Despite these challenges, Breer has since developed recipes using white bread, pineapple buns, and cocktail buns, as well as produced bespoke beers for companies like Swire Properties, HK Tramways, and Pizza Hut. Most notably, the team solidified their reputation after collaborating with Maxim’s Group in 2023 to release Bottle of Bread, the dining group’s craft beer, currently available at over 350 restaurants under the group. “After we started getting contracts with companies [like Maxim’s], then all the other [industry] players acknowledged that we were in for the long run and we were here to stay,” Tekriwal smiles.
While Breer’s products are available for purchase at locations such as city’super and Slowood, as well as tap rooms like 99 Bottles or Craftissimo, the team were strategic in choosing where their products would be sold. “We don’t want Breer to be compared with other brands because we’re not like any other beer on the market; we are something special,” Tekriwal reiterates. “We are very selective in where we sell, and we do our best to educate our customers.”
"We're not only a profit-making endeavour, we're a profit and purpose-making endeavour."
Ultimately, the company’s success over the years stems from staying true to its core values. “We believe in the three P’s which represent our triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit,” Tekriwal shares. “These three things should always be aligned: you should be doing something for the people, the planet shouldn’t be sacrificed, and we're not only a profit-making endeavour; we're a profit and purpose-making endeavour.” Additionally, he reinforced that Breer will promote its upcycling concept to both consumers and breweries in the future. “We want to collaborate with major companies to integrate Breer’s recipes into their production,” he explains. “By working together [with these companies] on recipe development, we can popularise our concept and enable more breweries around the world to make bread beer.”
