New York, NY — A chance encounter at a 2019 benefit event sparked an innovative partnership between Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, and renowned Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam. United by a shared vision and inspired by a small but mighty ancient grain, fonio, the duo has catalyzed a global brewing movement that intertwines African heritage, sustainability, and craft beer culture.
Fonio, a drought-resistant, nutrient-dense grain cultivated in West Africa for over 5,000 years, caught Oliver’s attention after he viewed Thiam’s TED Talk on the subject. When he saw Thiam at a Museum of Food and Drink event, he approached him with an idea: brewing beer with fonio. The grain’s resilience in arid climates, its independence from fertilizers or irrigation, and its deep cultural significance made it a compelling ingredient.
Thiam, a native of Dakar and founder of Yolélé Foods and the Teranga restaurant, had rediscovered fonio during cookbook research in Kédougou, Senegal. He noted that colonial agricultural practices had displaced traditional crops like fonio in favor of cash crops such as peanuts, often replacing indigenous grains with imported alternatives like broken rice from Indochina. Today, however, fonio is making a comeback—supermarket shelves in Dakar now stock it regularly.
Oliver and Thiam’s collaboration, dubbed Brewing for Impact, aimed to reintroduce fonio to the world—not just as a beer ingredient, but as a symbol of sustainable agriculture and diasporic pride. Since the 2019 debut of fonio beer at the Great American Beer Festival, the movement has gained momentum. International breweries have begun incorporating fonio into their products, including Carlsberg’s 100% fonio lager in Denmark, Brewgooder’s session IPA in Scotland, and Guinness’s fonio stout.
As of 2024, fonio is now commercially available to North American brewers through RahrBSG, the industry’s largest supply house. The initiative supports smallholder farmers in Mali and Togo, many of whom are women, and drives production at Yolélé’s mill in Senegal. The economic impact is immediate and significant, connecting traditional farming communities to global markets while maintaining their ancestral agricultural practices.
While the use of fonio in brewing is not new—West African communities have long used it in traditional fermentation—its application in modern commercial brewing is groundbreaking. Oliver emphasizes that this project is not about extraction or transplanting fonio cultivation to other countries, but about building a future rooted in Africa. “Growing it in Africa is the point,” he says. “This project benefits local communities, the end users, and the planet.”
The environmental benefits are also clear. Unlike conventional grains that depend on nitrate fertilizers derived from oil, fonio offers a sustainable alternative. “If a major brewery includes even 10% fonio in all its beers,” Oliver explains, “it could reverse desertification, support African economies, help meet climate goals, and even curb forced migration.”
Thiam adds that fonio represents more than a culinary trend—it’s an investment in Africa’s agricultural and economic future. “If fonio is not grown by these small farmers in West Africa, it shouldn’t be called fonio,” he says. “It belongs to these communities, and they deserve to benefit from its success.”
In conjunction with Brewing for Impact, a portion of proceeds from fonio-based beers supports the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling, which funds scholarships for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in the industry. This creates a powerful pipeline that links traditional African farming with future generations of diverse brewers and distillers.
So far, over 120 breweries have adopted fonio into their supply chains, producing a wide range of styles, from stouts and pale ales to sours and lagers. Highlights include:
- Brooklyn Brewery’s Fonio Rising Pale Ale, now part of its core lineup
- Maison Kalao’s Brooklyn à Dakar Pilsner in Senegal
- Thornbridge Brewery’s British-style fonio ale in the UK
- Carlsberg’s all-fonio lager
- Guinness Fonio Stout, brewed globally
- Fonio Spritz from Orange Bike Brewing in Portland, Maine
- Russian River’s Fonio Belgian Blonde in California, using up to 30% fonio
As Oliver and Thiam look ahead, their project stands as a beacon for how heritage, innovation, and sustainability can intersect. With growing interest across continents and industries, fonio is no longer just an ancient grain—it’s a global symbol of what beer, and food systems, can become.
You Might Be Interested In:
