OUR STORY & MISSION

We’ve started as a craft breakfast room and bakery, “HANDELEK” in Kraków, Poland. Our menu was based on sourdough traditional recipes and good quality local products – baking several types of bread, challah, buns, baguettes.

Our business grew rapidly, and breads were sold not only in our premises, but also through external stores to which we delivered the goods – shortly, we were one of the largest local craft bakeries.
Bakery Handelek, photo by Konrad KozlowskiOrange background

the rug was pulled from under our feet

Bread loaves, photo by RebreadOrange background
Before we knew it, the global pandemic was upon us in 2020, and then there was a nearby war that changed everything. Rising energy prices, fewer customers, and higher operational costs made our business growth impossible. Returns from stores increased, and even a farmer who took unsold bread from us for animal feed stopped coming. Despite our best efforts, we couldn't accurately predict demand, leading to days when we had to dispose of dozens of loaves. It was a major setback for us.

the A-HA MOMENT

We realized that other bakeries and stores experienced the same problem with unsold bread.
We were horrified to see how much bread is wasted, how many emissions are generated by its landfilling, and how huge amounts of water, raw materials and energy are irretrievably lost. We felt compelled to find a solution.

FROM WASTE TO RESOURCE

We were inspired by an Austrian bakery Bäckerei Therese Mölk, which has been processing surplus bread into craft alcohol in its own distillery. We decided to try it in Poland – with leftover bread collected from a few bakeries, we’ve created a craft distillate, aqua vitae.
 
Besides alcohol, other ideas began to appear: a base for cosmetics, soft drinks or biodegradable packaging. We decided to create REBREAD and build it with a fantastic team, fully dedicated to saving unused bread. Now we develop and share biotechnologies through licences so they can be deployed in many places around the world at the same time. This is the only way to solve this burning global problem.
Bread black and white graphics

OUR BRILLIANT TEAM

Business department:
BARTŁOMIEJ RAK
CO-FOUNDER,CEO
KATARZYNA MŁYNARCZYK
CO-FOUNDER
EWA JAROSZ
PROJECT MANAGER
PATRYCJA NIERADA
RELATIONSHIP MANAGER
R&D department:
AGATA ŁOBOCKA
BIOTECHNOLOGIST
AGNIESZKA MACHUL-ŻWIRBLA
CHIEF BIOTECHNOLOGIST
PIOTR KOWALSKI
LAB TECHNICIAN

OUR IMPACT COMMITMENT

By 2040, we envision a world where bread waste is eliminated across the supply chain, leading to a significant decrease in resource consumption, environmental impact, and production costs. Through innovative upcycling solutions centered around leftover bread and dedicated to both industrial manufacturers and SMEs, we aim to foster sustainable food production systems (SDG 2.4), minimize waste generation (SDG 12.3), and promote the efficient use of natural resources (SDG 9.4), while simultaneously increasing food availability and enhancing nutrition (SDG 2.1).
SDG 12
SDG 9
SDG 2
SDG
Our vision is to create a future where sustainable practices are the norm, contributing to a healthier planet and healthier people for future generations.

DETERMINED TO ACHIEVE

Food waste icon by Flaticon
Bread waste and loss reduction
Amount of bread that has not become waste, evidenced by Bread Waste and Loss Index - 50k tonnes/month by 2030
CO2 icon by Flaticon
Climate performance
Amount of direct and indirect CO2e reduction from bread-based upcycled products and primary raw materials substitution - at least 830k tonnes of direct CO2e a year by 2030
Bread loaf icon
Closed-loop supply chain viability
Local/regional circular business ecosystems (bakery, F&B manufacturer, retailer) focused on the valorisation of excess bread - 8 by 2030
Nutrition icon by Flaticon
Increased access to nutrition
European producers and retailers committed to the affordability and healthy nutritional composition of bread-based upcycled products - 30% industrial and 50% SME of Rebread customers by 2030
Report check icon by Flaticon
Adoption of sustainable practices
European producers and retailers who include bread waste reduction and upcycling in CSRD reports - 20 industrial bread producers and 7 retail chains by 2030
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