From surplus bread to burger using filamentous fungi at bakeries: Techno-economical evaluation

A novel approach of utilizing unsold bread at bakeries as a substrate for the fermentative production of a fungal food product have been developed. Techno-economic feasibility of implementing on-site solid-state fermentation in small-scale bakeries in Sweden to recover 10 kg/day surplus bread using the edible fungus Neurospora intermedia was investigated. Different inoculation to substrate ratios were compared, where 24% of fermented solids to inoculate the next batch presented the best fermentation-benefit ratio. Total capital cost was at its maximum €12,600 that can process 70 tons bread (10 kg/day) in its 20-years lifetime to produce 63 tons of product. Operational costs were dominated by labour cost (53%). Outcomes indicate that the process implementation is economically feasible with an annual net profit of €62,000, rate of return on investment of 18.5%, with a payback-period of 4 years at a discount rate of 7%. According to sensitivity analysis, product-selling price and process bread capacity were critical to the process's economics. Increasing the capacity to 100 kg/day resulted in a substantial increase in net profit value of €5,700,000 compared to the base case scenario. Implementation of this process cast insights on techno-economic performance of a sustainable treatment for surplus bread at bakery-level.