Sterling Treats Waste into wellness

Products

Two ways to serve the same grain.

Checkout is on the WebICS store. The prices and quantities below are the ones published on each product page.

Snack Shape Listed price Listed quantity
Sterling Treats 2″ × 2″ bone $6.00 4 × 0.44 oz Shop
Sterling Bits Bite-sized crunch $4.25 2 × 0.44 oz Shop

Listed ingredients

Both shop listings print the same ingredient line:

  • Upcycled brewers’ spent grain
  • Chickpea flour
  • Organic turmeric
  • Cinnamon

The origin story also names flaxseeds, brewers’ yeast, ginger, black pepper (piperine), and oat bran. Those items are not in the printed ingredient line. If a dog has a food sensitivity, use the ingredient line on the pouch you receive, or ask us before you order.

Label and feeding

Sterling Treats follows the labeling expectations named by The Catalyst for this venture: brand name, net weight, guaranteed analysis, and ingredients in order of preponderance, under Mississippi Cottage Law or Commercial Feed Law as applicable.

Feed as a treat, under supervision. These snacks are not for human consumption, and they are not a substitute for veterinary care.

Buying more than a pouch?

In the kitchen

Ingredients, the bake, and where a pouch goes.

These are typical values for each ingredient, drawn from public food-composition figures. They are not a guaranteed analysis of the finished snack, and they are not medical advice. The pouch you receive is the label to follow.

Ingredient nutrition

  • Spent grains of malted barley and wheat. What is left after brewing. Dry brewers’ spent grain is commonly about 20–30% protein, with a large share of fiber and much of the starch already taken out. The exact mix changes with the brewery and the batch.
  • Wheat flour. Mostly starch, with about 10 grams of protein per 100 grams, so the dough can hold a bone shape. About 360 calories per 100 grams.
  • Garbanzo bean flour. Chickpea flour: about 22 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber, and 58 grams of carbohydrate per 100 grams, plus folate, iron, and magnesium.
  • Blueberries. About 57 calories per 100 grams, with fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, and the anthocyanin pigments that color the fruit.
  • Turmeric. Used as a spice. The yellow is curcumin. A pouch is not a treatment.
  • Virgin coconut oil. Nearly pure fat from fresh coconut, mostly lauric acid. About 890 calories per 100 grams. It adds energy and helps the dough leave the mold.
  • Chicken broth. Moisture and a savory smell. A cup is only a few calories, and commercial broth is often salty. Sodium in the finished snack is whatever the pouch analysis says.

From wet grain to pouch

  1. Dry the spent grain so it keeps and mills cleanly.
  2. Mill the grain and blend it with the flours.
  3. Add the wet ingredients: chicken broth, virgin coconut oil, and blueberries, with turmeric.
  4. Mix into one dough.
  5. Mold bones for Sterling Treats, or smaller pieces for Sterling Bits.
  6. Bake until the snack sets.
  7. Cool before it is sealed, so moisture does not stay trapped in the bag.
  8. Package in a single pouch marked for Sterling Pulse.

Waste, packaging, scholarships

  • Production. The base is brewery spent grain that would otherwise be thrown out. Students bake it at The Catalyst at Belhaven in Jackson.
  • Packaging. One pouch, no outer box. The QR code carries the batch story, so the pouch does not need a separate paper booklet. Cooling fully before sealing protects the snack.
  • Profit sharing. Student bakers earn a $20/hour living wage plus 10% sales commission. A share of the profit is set aside for scholarships.
Shop Treats — $6.00 Shop Bits — $4.25

Support the mission

Buy a pouch. Keep the stride.

Every bag of Sterling Treats or Sterling Bits keeps brewers’ spent grain in use and supports living-wage student work at The Catalyst at Belhaven.

Support the mission