Arda, a London-based cleantech start-up, is transforming spent grain, one of the world’s most abundant brewing by-products into a high-performance, plastic-free bio-leather called New Grain. Derived from the protein-rich waste of beer and whisky production, the material is created through a proprietary green-chemistry process that restructures plant proteins into a flexible, durable matrix, mimicking the structure of animal-derived leather materials.
New Grain is designed to slot into existing leather supply chains, offering a soft, leather-like material that can be finished, stitched and handled much like traditional hides. Highly customisable in colour, texture, thickness and performance, it can be tailored for fashion, footwear, furniture upholstery and automotive interiors, delivering the aesthetic and functional qualities demanded by luxury brands while avoiding animal hides and fossil-fuel plastics.
Equally impactful, New Grain is bio-based, biodegradable and engineered for circularity, turning a low-value waste stream into a high-value resource that supports net-zero and circular-economy goals. By converting spent grain into regenerative materials rather than extracting new resources, Arda’s mission embodies a broader shift in material design from extraction to transformation whilst reframing “luxury” as low-impact, traceable and climate-conscious in a regenerative age.
