Our expertise in industrial fermentation

Industrial fermentation

As a biotechnological process involving large culturing of microorganisms from renewable feedstocks, fermentation is getting increasingly popular for sustainably producing from a large scope of applications.  Through industrial fermentation processes, the carbon contained in raw materials is used by unicellular organisms to produce energy and to multiply.

Depending on the needs of the target market, fermentation can be used to either transform a substrate or produce microbial biomass or a molecule of interest in large quantities. Each plant’s fermentation process is unique, based on the used microorganism – yeast, bacteria, fungus or algae -, on the operating mode – batch, fed-batch, continuous, or perfusion -, on the raw and final materials’ specifications, and on the size of the equipment. At industrial scale, stirred-tank bioreactors or fermentors volume usually reaches from tens up to hundreds cubic meters.

As part as Lesaffre, we have extensive experience in industrial, solid and liquid, fermentation processes applied to various fields: yeast and bacteria production for baking and fermented beverage applications, and expression and purification of molecules of interest for human care or the food industry.

Our team of industrial fermentation experts

Our expertise in industrial fermentation relies on our team comprised of regional industrial fermentation experts, technical service managers and representatives. The team gathers extensive experience in 1st and 2nd generation ethanol production, industrial fermentation and downstream processing, plant-scale risk assessment, and co-product diversification. Being thoroughly skilled and trained in yeast and microbial fermentation, fermentation nutrition, enzyme, and protein production, at lab, pilot and full-scale, they are committed to support you with the highest technical standards, best practices and innovative tools.

Working together with our sales team and Green Lab, our technical team can assist you in developing your activity, commissioning your plant, optimizing your fermentation parameters, and solving any issue you are facing. This global team of local experts owns a broad vision of industrial fermentation and its stakes and challenges.

Supporting our partners with our expertise in industrial fermentation

We partner with players that are as passionate as we are about accelerating the transition to a sustainable future. Our product and service range coupled with our technical support covers the extensive requirements of industrial fermentation.

Thanks to our market knowledge and fermentation experience, we understand your needs and demands: reliable microorganisms, high performance fermentation solutions, innovative bio-based products, and best-in-class support. For over 170 years, Lesaffre has been honing its skills and forging unparalleled expertise in fermentation, enabling us to offer the highest performing strains to meet global quality standards.

As complex and subtle as fermentation is, our daily ambition is to share this knowledge with our industrial partners. Our technical service team brings together experts with a passion for fermentation and a wide array of industrial experience. They are the most qualified to support you in your activity through our extensive range of on-site and off-site solutions.

From regular operations to plant commissioning, our technical team is available to train your staff, to help you in establishing good and safe practices, to set up process parameters and to resolve potential issues.

“Here at Leaf, we strive to understand our customer’s unique operating conditions. Our goal is to deliver relevant, timely support that fits your needs whether it be mitigating upset, increasing operating efficiency or bringing systems online. Nothing is more satisfying than seeing the difference in the data!”

Kelly,
technical Service Manager

CP² solution

Biotechnologies are at the heart of the bioeconomy’s solutions for complex challenges our society faces. Delivering clean energy and bio-based products in a consistent and environmentally friendly manner requires constant innovation. It also requires pushing the boundaries of science and technology to deploy them. 

Industrial fermentation is a foundation of both existing technologies – such as bio ethanol, enzymes, biologics – and newer products – such as advanced nutrition, human, animal and plant health solutions, etc. A major challenge for industrial fermentation process excellence lies in the fact that products and processes are intimately coupled in rather complex ways, making optimization a major hurdle.

Through our innovative CP² solution – Comprehensive Coupled Product and Process -, we group our technologies and innovations. We draw upon Lesaffre’s 170 years of experience in industrial fermentation and combine it with our close proximity to customers and an ever-evolving innovation team.

We understand that today’s and future industrial fermentation challenges have grown in complexity. Solutions need to be comprehensive and to consider the multiple key parameters at stake for our partners: not only the fermentation part, but its connection to customer’s profitability. Products and process shall be coupled, and the understanding of their mutual interactions is of paramount importance to respond to industrial fermentation’s dynamic changes of characteristics.

At Leaf, we combine R&D, cross-disciplinary technical service, and Industry 4.0 innovation into our CP² approach. As a partner, we are willing to put CP² at your service, for a globally sustainable tomorrow.