We were lucky to catch up with Dan Kurzock recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

In college, I learned how to make beer underage. Loved this hobby, but detested the waste it created. Every 6-pack we brewed left us with 1 pound of grain! We were hauling this grain (which after brewing was like a giant batch of porridge), out to the dumpster until inspiration struck. I tasted it–this was not waste, it was food. The research confirmed its latent nutritional value and I began to see some humble potential. Initially, I started saving the grains to bake into bread, which my vision was to then sell enough loaves to be able to brew for free. With each batch, the vision got bigger. It felt like I had struck gold with the ultimate opportunity to create a business that profitably contributes to building a more sustainable world.

After the original “a-ha!” but before coming up with the concept for ReGrained as an ingredient platform, my plan was to open a craft brewery. Then that became a vision for a brewery + bakery combo. Then after speaking with some craft brewery owners, doing research, and brainstorming with my cofounder, we realized that the biggest opportunity was to try to connect the dots between the brewing industry and the food industry.

This opportunity was undoubtedly much bigger: if we could upcycle commercial brewery grains at scale into a “flour” for sale via a partnership model with leading food companies, this new supply chain could be the foundation for a sustainable and profitable food revolution. This was a vision with seemingly limitless potential.

After a modest upfront investment to purchase some baking equipment, early on, we funded nearly everything with cash flow. The key was to actively sell our prototypes, first the bread, and later bars. This provided opportunities for revenue-generating learning. It was only years later that we took the plunge from recreational entrepreneurship to full-time.

Dan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Upcycled Foods, Inc. (UP, Inc.) revolutionizes food waste into premium ingredients to meet consumer demand, while reducing supply chain risk and unlocking additional revenues, to set a new standard for innovation and impact in the circular economy.

We powers the B2B upcycled food economy with product development expertise, cutting-edge technology, and a growing portfolio of ingredient solutions. With its innovation hub – the Upcycled Food Lab – the company leads the way for food makers as the go-to development partner. Upcycled products close the loop on some of the food system’s most overlooked and undervalued supply chains while delivering on taste, nutrition, and functionality. The company launched with ReGrained SuperGrain+®, which catalyzed the growth of the upcycled food industry. Upcycled Foods Inc. is a proudly certified Public Benefit Corporation and 1% For The Planet member, and cofounder of the Upcycled Food Association.

As for me, my story starts in college, where I learned how to make beer underage. Loved this hobby, but detested the waste it created. Every 6-pack we brewed left us with 1 pound of grain! We were hauling this grain, which after brewing was like a giant batch of porridge, out to the dumpster until inspiration struck. I tasted it–this was not waste, it was food. The research confirmed its latent nutritional value and I began to see some humble potential. Initially, I started saving the grains to bake into bread, which my vision was to then sell enough loaves to be able to brew for free. With each batch, the vision got bigger, setting the stage for our vision as an innovative ingredient producer aiming to help enable the transition to a more circular food system!

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

The company started as a side hustle, born from a college project called “Brewin’ Bread” focused on using the grains generated by my own brewing hobby. Under the brand ReGrained, we set the vision for becoming an ingredient company, but recognizing a need to still build the market, we pivoted to nutrition bars for their production efficiency and longer shelf life. We continued producing and selling bars while working day jobs for a few years. The turning point came when our idea demanded full attention. I quit my job, entered an MBA program, and focused on the company. Partnering with the USDA, we patented a breakthrough upcycling technology, creating ReGrained SuperGrain+. In 2016, we raised a modest amount of capital to get off the ground. We secured innovation partnerships, validated commercial potential, and launched two successful equity crowdfunding campaigns. Evolving into Upcycled Foods, Inc., today we meet the booming demand for upcycled foods as a collaborator and development partner. Our journey has unveiled vast potential for new upcycled food supply chains, and we continue to advance our mission of enabling the food industry to do more with less.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I usually read 30-40 books per year, mostly fiction. I actually like to argue that I learn more from fiction. There is something about being transported to another perspective (or even world) that teaches me at least as much as non-fiction. Frank Herbert’s Dune was a highly influential book for me in college in ways that are difficult to articulate. I love the way speculative fiction, science fiction, and fantasy enables you to imagine other worlds while simultaneously making you question your own. Kurt Vonnegut’s catalog was highly influential. I also love the irreverence and intelligence of writers like Tom Robbins and Douglas Adams. I love more conventional “literature” too and typically read most of the Pulitzer shortlist as well as a few classics.

On the non-fiction front, I love reading founder stories too for companies that I look up to. I particularly enjoy consuming non-fiction as audiobooks, as a companion to endurance sports like long-distance cycling or trail running. Early on, I devoured books by brewery owners. When reading Brewing Up A Business by the founder of Dogfish Head Brewery, I was struck by a chapter where he described how one could order a burger at their brewery where the beef was raised on their grain, served on a bun made with that same grain.

John Mackey’s Conscious Capitalism was an influential read as I was considering going back to business school. It is probably no surprise, but I also love sustainability-oriented texts. For example, Buckminster Fuller’s Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, Paul Hawken’s Natural Capitalism, Janine Benyus’s Biomimicry. The writing of Malcolm Gladwell, Daniel Pink, Daniel Kahneman have also been influential. Wiseman’s Multipliers is one of my favorite leadership reads.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://upcycledfoods.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upcycledfoodsinc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReGrained/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/upcycled-foods/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/upcycled_foods
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMhOErPPdpM

Image Credits
Credit: Upcycled Foods, Inc.