From the earth, to the earth: The yeast life cycle

From the earth, to the earth:  The yeast life cycle

At Lesaffre, we are fully dedicated to our mission of working together to better nourish and protect the planet. This promise not only applies to the methods and technology used to produce our range of products and services, but also to how we generate value and repurpose the derivative products from our industrial processes.

Going full circle

Early on in our history, we identified concentrated sugar beet juice as an excellent agent for growing yeast. Our yeast production begins with sugar beets, which are processed into white sugar and various syrups that are used to create our fermentation substrates. These elements are carefully selected and mixed to produce the growing medium on which yeast cells will multiply. Once we harvest the yeast cream, we collect the remaining part of our substrates and process it into a range of products that meet very precise specifications. This process is a wonderful example of the circular economy at work. We use our derivative products as natural fertilizers, which can be carefully sprayed on the very beetroot fields where they originated to boost the growth of future beetroots. Other grades can be adapted to feed ruminants and or used as raw material for fertilizer.

Innovating for the future

Targeted R&D is being carried out to produce new types of derivative products and green solutions for many industries.

One notable example is the product we created to replace a carbon-based ingredient in our client’s dishwasher tablet.

Not only does our solution effectively replace a high-performing fossil fuel product, but it allowed us to enter a new market with a considerably smaller environmental footprint. This is just one example of our multiple industrial developments.

Our commitments

As an eco-responsible company, we aim to preserve our planet and its natural resources. We are dedicated to accomplishing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #12 as well as our own objectives:

  • respect environmental regulations in every country where we operate
  • increasingly rely on renewable energy
  • reduce fossil energy sources across all factories
  • improve the quality of water released into the environment
  • reduce the use of fossil fertilizer resources

The yeast derivatives virtuous circle