By TAU Ventures & AB InBev

We believe in a “water 360” approach to water management that encompasses all aspects of our operations. This approach involves identifying opportunities to improve water efficiency and quality throughout our entire value chain, from ensuring a stable and high-quality water intake to efficient brewing and packaging practices through water recycling and repurposing. Our goal is to maximize the beneficial use of water while minimizing waste and negative impact on the environment. Two of our most pressing challenges are listed below:

1. Water monitoring (beyond the brewery gate)
   Before water is utilized in our operations, it is pulled from a natural resource, and makes its way into our brewery. At every step of the way, we need to make sure we are aware of the quantity and quality of the water used. This starts with the state (level, health, risk, etc.) of our water sources (rivers, lakes, wells, etc.), and continues with constant measurement of the flow and key quality indicators before entering the brewery.
   What are we looking for? Real-time monitoring and online measurement of each water source, taking into consideration a variety of sources. Possible solutions include (but not limited to) satellites, image processing, geological instruments, flow and quality sensors positioned at the brewery gate.
2. Water treatment: reverse osmosis (RO)
   Reverse osmosis is an energy-efficient desalination technology used to pretreat water for use in beverage production, including beer brewing. The current average water recovery capacity of these installations is approximately 80%, however, this process leaves us with 15-20% of brine which is hard to reuse.
   What are we looking for? Innovative technologies that combine recycling techniques and low-energy impact methods to extract more water and re-use both the water and brine from the effluent RO system. Possible solutions involve (but not limited to) materials, optimized desalination techniques, innovative recycling technologies and reuse use-cases.

In-brewery operations refers to the various processes and activities that take place within a brewery to produce beer. This includes everything from milling and mashing the grains to fermenting, filtering, and packaging the finished product. In addition, operations also involve equipment maintenance as well as quality control measures such as flavor consistency and sanitation to ensure optimal production. Two of our most pressing challenges are listed below:

1. Sanitizing process efficiency
   There are multiple cleaning processes that are commonly used in the food and beverage industry to clean and sanitize equipment such as tanks, pipes, and pumps without disassembling them, keeping them free of bacteria. While current methods are effective for maintaining high levels of hygiene, they also result in a significant amount of water being wasted. Clean-In-Place (CIP) is a hygienic process of flushing equipment with water which is followed by a chemical wash and a final rinse with more water.What are we looking for? Any technology that can help reduce water, direct costs, or system downtime will be considered. I.e., new chemical cleaning agents, implementing new cleaning techniques that require less water, using sensors to indicate liquid compounds at a given moment to shorten protocol time and more.
2. Real-time beverage quality testing
   The process of manufacturing beverages involves numerous laboratory tests that determine whether the production can proceed. Such lengthy procedures often need to be done separately from the manufacturing line at external labs, in a significant delay to production steps. The time gap between the testing and the manufacturing line can be critical, as production continues, and delays could result in entire batches being scrapped and a lot of water wasted. One of the most important processes to monitor is fermentation. To keep the taste in profile, we measure the concentration of a flavor compound called Diacetyl to ensure it meets specifications.
   What are we looking for? Enabling technologies that will provide us with real-time detection and measurement of Diacetyl during and after fermentation. Such tests are performed on the liquid form of the beverage. Possible solutions include (but not limited to) computer vision-based solutions such as Hyperspectral analysis, alongside Big data and sensor devices.

We depend on high-quality agricultural crops from thriving communities and healthy ecosystems to brew our beers. Our Agriculture goals focus on where we can drive the most impact: in our direct sourcing programs with our agricultural development teams who work with over 20,000 farmers across 13 countries to produce our six priority crops – barley, hops, rice, maize, sorghum and cassava. As part of this, we help identify gaps and opportunities in our global farmer network, which are addressed through a portfolio of agronomic, environmental and management initiatives. A few of our most pressing challenges are listed below:

1. Barley pre-germination detection
   Germination of barley occurs as part of the malting process under favorable conditions. Pre-germination is the sprouting of barley due to high harvest moisture / inclement wet weather at harvesting / water ingress in storage prior to the malting process. This process reduces the acceptance rate of barley at the malt house. The current methodology used is visual and reactive, and hence not in real-time and cannot detect the onset of germination as the hormone levels are undetectable.
   What are we looking for?
   Methods to monitor the germination energy of barley in real-time from harvest to malting for informed decision making and barley management to increase the acceptance of malting barley. Possible solutions include (but not limited to) Computer vision-based solutions, alongside Machine learning, Big data and sensor devices.
2. Dynamic Crop Protocol
   For each approved barley variety we provide our farmers with a crop protocol to provide agronomic guidance (seeding rate, planting date, fertilizer rate, etc.), to unlock the yield potential for the specific variety. We want the crop protocol to be more dynamic and take into consideration changes in acute climate, ground level, historical and other key considerations in its recommendations.
   What are we looking for?
   A dynamically changing crop protocol, taking into consideration key criteria, and providing localized recommendations to de-risk barley production and increase acceptance rates for the farmer. Possible solutions include (but not limited to) agronomic, meteorological, environmental and geological data collection methods alongside Machine learning, Big data, computer vision and sensor devices.
3. Protein extractionMalt proteins are directly affected by the protein contained in the barley as a starting material, which relates to growing conditions. An effective brewing process requires a specific protein percentage. High % protein in malt hurts the brewing process in various ways, typically leading to a low % of fermentable sugars, low enzyme activity, color, flavor, foam retention, and more. However, too low % of protein has a negative effect on the process as well. This results in lost opportunities in the fermentation process.
   What are we looking for?A solution that can help us extract the exact % of desired proteins from malt with varying initial protein levels, without compromising the brewing quality. Possible solutions include (but not limited to) innovative chemical materials and processes alongside computer vision-based solutions, Machine learning, Big data and sensor devices.

Procurement ensures we have access to the raw materials we need to brew our beer and package our products. This includes everything from selecting our vendors, negotiating our contracts and purchasing goods as well as creating a resilient supply chain and driving our sustainability agenda across our business and with our supply base. One of our most pressing challenges is listed below:

1. Supply Chain De-complexity
   When we purchase materials to convert them to finished goods, each material type has several different specifications. These specifications are derived from different constraints, such as brand requirements (color, shape, etc.), regulation, inventory, line efficiency, and more. Global operations result in a massive number of materials SKUs, which creates a lot of complexity in our supply chain. Our goal is to bring efficiency and standardization to ensure the resilience and sustainability of our supply chain.
   What are we looking for?
   Solutions to bring more visibility to our material supply chain. Help harmonize the materials we use by reducing the complexity of our finished goods, taking into consideration production and supply constraints. Possible solutions include (but not limited to) Machine Learning, Big data & AI.

The logistics function oversees the planning and distribution of our raw materials and finished goods. The two main components of our logistical operations are transportation and storage, which unravel into fleet and driver management, forklifts, inventory management, fulfillment, last mile, and more. From breweries to distribution centres and warehouses, to off-trade and on-trade locations, and even direct to consumer, we are responsible to make sure our beers arrive safely to our millions of customers and are available where consumers want them. See one of our more pressing challenges below:

1. Warehouse Communications
   Effective communication is crucial to the success of our warehouse operations. While we expect our forklift operators to maintain productivity by moving our products from manufacturing to docks and ensure on time customer deliveries, they also have the opportunity to provide additional value based on their comprehensive understanding of the facility. By empowering our forklift drivers to communicate the state of the operations in real-time, we can prevent potential stoppages or safety hazards. For example, they can report on activities that may need attention, such as a shortage of pallets at the output of a packaging line, a leak on the floor, or a malfunctioning light that affects product quality. These insights can help us quickly address issues as they arise and maintain productivity.
   What are we looking for? We aim to implement a real-time communication system that enables forklift drivers to send voice messages that are converted to text and assigned priorities. These messages can be sent to the appropriate teams, such as supervisors, maintenance, security, yard, and production control. The communications will be digitally stored and shared, and the analysis of task performance will provide insights into staffing and other areas for improvement. Possible solutions include (but not limited to) Speech-to-text, NLP, Machine learning technologies.

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