Tremi is a plant-based milk alternative made from brewer’s spent grain — the leftover cereals from beer production, usually fed to animals or discarded. Developed by Munich-based startup Circular Grain, Tremi turns a waste stream into a nutrient-rich drink with more protein and less sugar than conventional oat milk. Tremi was also the winner of our first “Circular Boost” program, through which we support circular start-ups with pro-bono branding and strategy work. Our job: build a brand that could stand on the shelf next to established plant-based drinks — and win.
Problem
The plant-based milk shelf is crowded, loud, and largely interchangeable. Most brands sell the same story. Tremi’s actual innovation – circular by design, made from what already exists – needed a brand that could cut through the sameness without disappearing into the eco-niche. It had to feel confident enough for supermarket shelves, clear enough for coffee professionals, and appealing enough for people who don’t care about circularity but do care about taste and price.
Solution
We built Tremi as a brand that leads with product, not with mission. The packaging system is deliberately clean and confident, with a bold wordmark, a distinct colour logic across the three variants, and a straightforward “They call it leftover. We call it m*lk.” headline that reframes the category on Tremi’s own terms.
Circularity isn’t hidden, but it isn’t the pitch either – it’s the reason the product exists, backed up on-pack with numbers. The result is a brand that reads as a serious contender in the milk-alternative category, not as a sustainability project asking for goodwill.
Impact
Tremi launched into wide press coverage across food-tech and startup media, and was selected as one of nine European startups for the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator 2026 – a competitive programme for early-stage sustainable consumer brands. Circular Grain has secured over €500,000 in funding through grants and angel investments, with a market launch rolling out across cafés, retail, and tasting activations in the Munich area.
The brand gives the founders a professional platform to scale beyond the sustainability niche and compete on the terms that actually move the category: taste, price, and shelf presence.
“As a young startup, we were incredibly grateful that NEW STANDARD.S offered us a branding package as part of their “Circular Boost” program. Despite the short timeline, they worked fast, reliably, and with genuine commitment. We never felt like a ‘second-priority’ project – they took us seriously and aimed for a truly strong result.
— Circular Grain
“Tremi is defining a new category in the plant-based drinks section, and we wanted it to stand out, making sure people don’t miss it and get it again and again.”
— Louis Rienäcker, Design
