The investment will be used to scale the brewery’s work with bakeries to prevent bread waste, with funds dedicated to research and development into enabling more breweries to use surplus bread and reduce the environmental impact of their beers.
Investors included the National Geographic Society, Heineken International and former Unilever chief executive Paul Polman.
Shareholders are required to reinvest any capital gains on selling the shares into social impact businesses and funds. Investors also do not receive dividends, as all Toast’s distributable profits go to charity.
‘Positive impact’
Commenting on this funding round, Toast co-founder and chief operating officer Louisa Ziane said: “We set out with a mission to brew great beers and spread big ideas that can change the world and are proud of the positive impact we have.
“Collaboration has always been key to our strategy for achieving change and we’re excited to be able to scale our work to support bakeries and breweries to embrace the circular economy.”
Toast will work with Heineken as a strategic investor, focussing on research and development, as part of the drinks giant’s net zero strategy.
Magne Setnes, chief supply chain officer at Heineken added: “We are delighted to collaborate with Toast – it is through our collective effort that we can achieve our shared goals, scaling our positive contribution and limiting our negative impacts on the environment.
Circular systems
“Like Toast, our ambition is to maximise the circulatory of all our products, in other words move from take-make-waste to reduce-reuse-recycle.”
Toast has collaborated with 86 breweries since it launched in 2016, supporting them to use surplus bread in their brewing. This investment will enable Toast to significantly scale its impact, towards its goal of rescuing one billion slices of surplus bread.
Crystal Brown, chief communications, marketing and brand officer at the National Geographic Society, said: “As an organisation working to help illuminate and protect the wonder of our world, the National Geographic Society is proud to be an investor in Toast Ale.
“Our impact around the world is made possible by National Geographic Explorers such as Toast Ale co-founder Tristram Stuart, and we applaud Toast’s efforts to take food waste reduction to scale.”
Meanwhile, Dunbia parent company Dawn Meats has announced plans to invest £90m into sustainability programmes in a bid to target net zero emissions by 2040.