At first, it may seem an absurd question and you may be expecting to receive a cliche response. The truth, however, is that successful small businesses that have a real impact in their communities are the ones that satisfy needs, so their creative ideas are simply anchored in daily life.
To emphasise the fact that simple ideas can become successful projects, I will present the story of Anushka Purohut, a teenage girl from Hong Kong who thought she could make beer from the scraps of discarded bread, thus minimising food waste as well. Everything started from a memory when she was only ten years old and was totally appalled seeing a barista at a Starbucks cafe throwing away leftover slices of bread. Then, her attention was caught every time she saw people ordering, buying or throwing bread. She noticed a sad reality: bread is one of the most common types of food consumed and that’s why so much of it ends in the trash.
Starting from this problem and, being a fan of alcoholic drinks shared with her friends, she came up with the incredible idea of making beer from discarded scraps of bread. The first step was to buy a brewing kit on Amazon of only $156 and experiment with different recipes for three weeks. Even if the taste wasn’t good when they first tried it, they started to believe in the idea more. After about 6 months, they found the perfect taste and in 2020 they launched their brand: Breer.
Breer now has more assortments of beer that can be tried: hibiscus sour, egg tart and pineapple bun - tastes that describe the vibrant food scene in Kong Kong. The start-up hasn’t raised any funding, but received over 6 million of dollars from entrepreneurs competitions without giving away equity. Asked if she wants to extend the business abroad, she said that they are not considering this option, but rather are working on involving more bakeries, cafes and restaurants from Hong Kong as their source of raw materials.
How does the business work?
It is estimated that every year, each person in Hong Kong wastes about 71 kilograms of food, so companies like Breer can benefit a lot from this. Breer collects leftover bread from local restaurants, bakeries and supermarkets, and then sends it to contract breweries, producing around 6 thousand litres of beer at least six times a year.
Anushka Purohit knows that having a small business comes with its own challenges, but can be a very rewarding experience. When she first started asking bakeries for leftover bread, she faced questions like: “How do I believe you won’t just take the bread for yourself?” However, she knew that actions can speak more than words, so after two weeks of persistence, the bakery gave her two kilograms of leftover bread on the condition that she brings back the beer made from it. She did exactly that and gained the trust of the owner. Among her tips I can mention the following: “Be passionate about what you’re doing”; “You’ll never know if you don’t try”; “Be careful with your money”.
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