The Japanese beer maker uses upcycling technology to turn waste products from the brewing process into jeans, winning the company new fans.
While beer byproducts such as malt dregs are often discarded, Sapporo Breweries recently learned that sediment can also be turned into clothing, Nikkei Asia reported.
Sapporo Breweries
To create the special jeans, Sapporo Breweries teamed up with Shima Denim Works in Okinawa, about 1,000 miles southwest of the brewery’s headquarters in Tokyo.
Already adept at recycling food processing waste into clothing, Shima Denim Works created the jeans by first transforming the residue into “washi,” a Japanese-style paper.
Next, washi is used to spin yarn which is then woven into denim, and the finished product is described as “light and airy”.
Shima Denim used Sapporo Breweries dark beer dregs to highlight the company’s Black Label brand.
The Black Label Malt & Hops Jeans retailed for ¥41,800 (about $310) and 1,600 people tried to purchase the pants when Sapporo Breweries added the first 30 pairs to its online store.
Shinnosuke Araki, assistant manager of Sapporo Breweries, told Nikkei Asia that the company was surprised that so many people wanted to buy the jeans, describing the response as “far greater than expected.”
The pandemic has led to a decline in beer sales for all four of Japan’s largest breweries, including Sapporo Breweries. The challenging situation prompted the company to apply upcycling technology as a creative and environmentally friendly way to give new life to waste products, while also allowing it to explore a new revenue stream and build a following for its Black Label beer brand.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn