Lesaffre takes a minority shareholding in Yeap

Lesaffre and Yeap have announce that Lesaffre has made an 10% investment in Yeap to help it finalize the development of a promising new protein ingredient made from upcycled yeast. Through this investment, Yeap becomes one of Lesaffre’s partners in bringing new groundbreaking, functional, alternative proteins to the market.

Yeast proteins are natural and sustainable, making them an excellent alternative to animal proteins. Furthermore, they are highly nutritious, have an attractive taste, and have applications in a wide range of foods.

Yeap and Lesaffre share a vision to make yeast a key source of protein in the emerging plant-based protein market. The protein will be highly versatile, and because it is made from upcycled yeast, it will have a very low environmental impact.

“The collaboration and investment from an industry leader such as Lesaffre is a strong vote of confidence in Yeap” said Jonathan Goshen CEO & Co-Founder of Yeap. “As our world is facing the great challenges of climate change and scarcity of resources – we believe Yeap can be part of the solution. This investment will help us increase our capacity to innovate.”

As part of its mission, Lesaffre is exploring the most innovative ways to meet the food challenges we face today. By 2050, the world will need to provide nine billion people with healthy food from environmentally sustainable resources. Fermentation, microorganisms, and derivatives such as yeast extracts and highly functional proteins can play a vital role in meeting this challenge.

“For 170 years, Lesaffre has been innovating to bring its customers solutions that help create a healthier, more sustainable future. Our expertise in fermentation and micro-organisms enables us to innovate every day, with the support of our passionate R&D teams, and by investing in start-ups in which we believe. With Yeap, we aim to take a step further in finding solutions to the food challenges of tomorrow,” added Brice-Audren Riché, CEO of Lesaffre.

This investment will be overseen by Biospringer by Lesaffre, which is the world’s largest producer of natural food ingredients derived from yeast and other microorganisms.

“The product under development by Yeap is a natural ingredient for our customers and has the potential to address many of the challenges facing the food industry. With this investment, Biospringer strengthens its innovative position within this industry,” explained Carmen Arruda, General Manager of Biospringer by Lesaffre.