Our industrial Excellence

Human and industrial capital at the cutting edge of technology

For more than a century, we’ve been honing our skills and forging unparalleled expertise in developing the highest quality products for yeast manufacturing and processing. Backed by decades of experience and a truly multilocal presence, we have the global reach and local awareness to provide services tailored to each client’s specific needs. Today, two-thirds of our employees work in our 80 industrial facilities and produce thousands of tons of yeast every day to be distributed around the world. In less than two weeks, they can transform a microorganism weighing just a few micrograms into several hundred tons of yeast ౼ a clear example of the added value of our expertise.

This large-scale transformation supports the production of commercial yeast, relying on selected microbial strains and a highly controlled fermentation process.

From the lab to our industrial tanks, our specialists maintain conditions conducive to multiplication, from the pilot stage through to full industrial scale. Among microorganisms we work with, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, commonly know as baker’s yeast, plays a central role in our processes. We extend our proven industrial excellence in fermentation to include bacteria phages and fungi, supporting a wide range of end applications such as baking, health care, animal feed, biotechnology and more.

Given our increasingly competitive, evolving industry landscape, our ability to innovate and adapt has always been vitally important. Our agility, paired with our global presence, enables us to maintain flexible processes and produce a wide range of liquid, fresh and dry fermentation products. We also draw upon our scientific expertise and industrial know-how to design a range of subcontracted services for clients whose industrial fermentation needs exceed their own human or material resource capacity.

Fermentation: the heart of our industrial activity

Fermentation, the foundation of Lesaffre’s industrial expertise, is much more than a simple biological process: it is a rigorously mastered discipline, the result of decades of industrial experience and scientific refinement.

During fermentation, yeast strains such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae can provide essential functional benefits in the baking industry, such as the release of carbon dioxide for dough rising and fermentation, flavor development, and structural integrity of bread in interaction with flour.

This expertise also supports other high-quality applications such as human, animal and plant care, taste and food pleasure, fermented beverages and biofuels.

Perfectly controlled technology, from start to finish

Whether used for food, brewing, oenology, health or biofuels, Lesaffre yeast, bacteria and fungi are backed by our advanced technical expertise and our global quality assurance policy. Our management program rolled out to all of our subsidiaries – and supported by 55 in-house control labs ౼ meets the strictest requirements and allows us to produce stable, consistent products, while ensuring product traceability and optimal health and safety levels.

In recent years, we have also made a concerted effort to strengthen and improve our supply chain. Our global presence and local expertise have allowed us to create an incredibly agile supply chain, anticipate future demand and focus our resources accordingly.

A commitment to our planet and our people

We believe that industrial excellence extends far beyond the quality of our products. True excellence requires a deep commitment to protecting the environment and the safety of each and every team member.

As an eco-responsible company, we adhere to the strictest environmental standards in every country where we operate. Through our day-to-day operations, we go to great lengths to reduce our environmental footprint, including our water consumption, for the sake of our planet and its natural resources. Our environmental commitment also extends to how we generate value and repurpose the derivative products of our industrial processes.

This includes initiatives such as the launch of the “CCU for food” call for projects, which aims to capture carbon dioxide emitted during fermentation and reuse it, and our participation in the European UNICO2RN project.

All of our subsidiaries share this proactive approach and together we promote a virtuous production cycle.

When it comes to the wellbeing of our teams, we encourage dialogue and communication in order to strengthen our overall safety culture. We have developed a common approach to occupational health and safety, with the end goal of meeting our zero-accident target. This proactive, participatory approach, in line with the actions already undertaken at each of our subsidiaries, unites each and every one of our employees.

Global presence and local agility

With over 50 major fermentation facilities operating around the world, we combine international scale with deep local insight. This unique positioning allows us to respond rapidly to customer demand and deliver solutions adapted to specific regional contexts. Whether developing a tailored strain for sourdough production or supplying standard yeast for high-volume baking, we apply the same level of scientific rigor and industrial reliability across every market.

Our agile supply chain is built to anticipate change and adapt to fluctuating conditions. We also offer subcontracted fermentation services to partners who do not have in-house capacity, helping them scale up their processes while maintaining control over product quality.

Driving innovation with digital manufacturing

At Lesaffre, we see digital manufacturing as a key driver of innovation in the field of fermentation. Our sites increasingly rely on connected systems and data analytics to optimize microbial performance in real time — supporting more precise control over biological processes and reducing variability from batch to batch.

In this data-enhanced environment, our teams can act faster and smarter, laying the foundation for a new generation of fermentation processes — driven by science, supported by technology.