Turning bread into pasta: start-up breathes new life into old bread

It comes from Italy and has always been an integral part of the world's cuisine: pasta. Whether as spaghetti, penne or farfalle – this staple food is not only available in a wide variety of forms, it can also be combined in the most creative ways. While the durum wheat semolina variant, both with and without eggs, is the best–known pasta version, there are always innovative and controversial pasta creations.

A young company from Denmark is now also attracting attention with its pasta – which is largely made from rescued bread. This means that the new pasta creation not only sets standards in the fight against food waste, but should also taste great. As both young entrepreneurs come from the catering industry, they already have a certain basic understanding of what is important when it comes to pasta.

Upcycling as a focus

The idea of making pasta from bread was not the basic idea of the two entrepreneurs. As Jorge Aguilar explains in an interview with Austrian media, he was determined to devote himself to tortillas. His desire to reuse saved bread later led him to meet his business partner Leif Friedmann. They have been working together for around two years to rescue and reuse surplus bread – and with success, it seems, because even if the pasta may seem bizarre at first, it raises awareness of food and its value.

How does bread become pasta? First, surplus bread is collected, dried and then processed into flour, explain Evalotta Spangenberg and Meret Batke, Head of Project and Community Management at the start–up. Although any pastry can be made into pasta, the company tends to avoid sweet baked goods or those with grains. The entrepreneurs currently source the bread for the pasta from an industrial bakery that produces baked rolls, among other things, and has enough surplus rolls at the end of the day. As a result, the bread does not end up in the bin, but becomes pasta.

Big plans

Around 25 percent of the flour contained in stale bread is currently used to make pasta. According to the entrepreneurs, they are already trying to constantly increase this proportion without changing the taste quality of the pasta. While Eat Wasted currently produces up to 100 kilos a week, this proportion is also set to increase in the future. An online store is also in the works, with the help of which the pasta is to become better known and more accessible to a wider audience . So far, the pasta has been cooked and offered at pop–ups and other culinary events in Copenhagen – it remains to be seen when the bread pasta will also be available in Austria.

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