Munich, July 5, 2026 – Three ambitious students from Munich have developed a nutrient-rich milk alternative from beer spent grain, a by-product of beer production. The startup, Circular Grain, is set to launch its product, ‘Tremi’, in September, according to the portal “Lebensmittelpraxis.” The innovative drink utilizes grain residue that remains after brewing, eliminating the need for new agricultural land.
Tremi: More Protein, Less Sugar Than Oat Milk
According to the company, Tremi contains approximately three times more protein and significantly less sugar than traditional oat milk. Two versions are planned for the market launch: a standard variant and a special Barista version designed for coffee. Circular Grain also promotes a “Choco” flavor on the Tremi website.
Behind the project are TUM graduates Nathalie Stellwag, Marina Hijano Moreno, and Denise Ilogu. With a total of approximately 500,000 Euros in funding and investor capital, the startup was able to conduct tastings with over 1,500 people and refine their recipe more than 250 times. The final product is expected to be released in September.
“We use resources that are already available,” explains co-founder Marina Hijano Moreno. “With Tremi, we are transforming beer spent grain, which has previously had limited use in human food, into a highly nutritious milk alternative.” The team is supported by the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator, a funding program for sustainable startups. This is purely a support offer; Amazon does not receive any company shares but provides mentoring, cloud credits, and technical assistance.
Ecological Advantages of Tremi Over Cow and Oat Milk
With Tremi, Circular Grain may have not only developed a more nutritious product than its alternatives but also a more ecologically valuable one. While plant-based milk alternatives generally have a significantly better ecological footprint than cow’s milk, as highlighted in a “Quarks” article, even oat or soy milk require monocultures to be cultivated, irrigated, and harvested. The upcycling of beer spent grain takes this a step further: since the material is a by-product of beer production and is generated in enormous quantities anyway, the production of Tremi does not require a single square meter of additional agricultural land. This drastically reduces the CO2 and water footprint per liter compared to conventional plant-based drinks.
Upcycled Food: The Future of Food?
This initiative is not an isolated case but part of a massive global trend called “Upcycled Food.” As the Upcycled Food Association, the global umbrella organization for this movement, emphasizes, a potential revolution lies behind it: instead of discarding valuable residues from food production as animal feed or burning them in the nearest biogas plant, researchers and startups aim to transform them into high-quality food for human consumption.
