Lesaffre has formally inaugurated its 48th Baking Center™ in Dubai as part of its network expansion strategy to support customers in the UAE and the wider GCC region in the development of their expertise and offer much-needed exposure to new, disruptive innovative baking solutions.
The new facility, which was officially opened in the presence of Thibaut de Ladoucette, chairman, Lesaffre Board of Directors and Flavie Paquay, regional head, AgriFood Business Dept – Middle East, Business France Dubai, has been specifically designed to address emerging challenges that are unique to the Gulf and Middle East market.
The Baking Center™, which is located at Dubai’s Silicon Oasis, has also been adapted to re-create the real conditions of its customers productions.
A new investment at the service of innovation in baking activity
Lesaffre has been active in Middle East and Central Asia region for over 30 years and today counts five production plants in the region including Turkey, Jordan and Egypt. In 2017, Lesaffre expanded its business with the creation of a new sales office based in Dubai and its subsidiary Lesaffre Gulf FZE. The Baking Center™
The new facility, which covers over 400sqm, aims to ensure greater proximity with Lesaffre customers in the region and support diversified customer profiles, from craft to industrial bakers. Lesaffre Gulf’s experts and technicians have strong knowledge and experience with the specificities of the region. They provide concrete solutions for using yeast, sourdough, mixes, premixes and blends in local recipes such as sandwich bread or buns, but also crusty breads or flat breads.
The diversity of the Lesaffre international team of experts will enable them to seamlessly interact with their global customers.
“To meet our customers’ specific expectations, our technicians are able to communicate in most of the languages spoken in the Gulf and Middle East. At our Baking Center™ in Dubai, we are able to support all our customers’ technical needs in baking and guide them in developing their business. We can work on tailor-made solutions but also on clean label solutions or healthy breads projects,” said Marine Durot, General Manager, Lesaffre Gulf FZE.
A technological innovation center at the service of baking activity
Dubai’s Lesaffre Baking Center™ integrates state-of-the-art equipment to always better respond to customers’ expectations in terms of product innovation and quality.
The Baking Center™ is a pioneer concept created in 1974 by Lesaffre to meet and answer baking customer needs. Today the international network operates as a referent in baking fermentation. For almost 50 years, it has expanded its expertise and know-how to its customers: market knowledge, innovation, formulation, sensorial analysis, scientific support, technical assistance and trainings. Every day, more than 300 technical bakers work as co-innovators with customers to develop the baking processes and products of tomorrow.
“We are proud to inaugurate Dubai Baking Center™ which will enable us to go further in our support to our customers in the region. Bread is consumed differently according to countries. Local experts can respond to local requirements and share their knowledge. Thanks to the support of the Regional Baking Center™ of Istanbul and the network of Lesaffre Baking Centers™ in the world, Dubai Baking Center™ can answer any baking challenge from its clients. It’s a collaborative process!” said Jose Juan Berruga, President of the Middle East & Central Asia Lesaffre Baking region.
Lesaffre, a global key player in yeast and fermentation
Yeast, an essential ingredient for bread making. Yeast is a living organism, a microscopic single-celled fungus present on Earth for millions of years. Like human cells, yeast cells are alive and natural. Lesaffre has been selecting and growing yeasts, for more than 165 years. The yeast cultivated by Lesaffre is used in the production of bread for its fermentative power.
Today, Lesaffre contributes to a safer, healthier, and more natural diet by developing micro-organisms such as yeasts but also bacteria. These ferments have many properties that can be used in many fields, beyond baking. The ferments can, for example, be used as food supplements to contribute to the balance of the intestinal flora (the microbiota) in humans and animals. They reduce or avoid the use of antibiotics in animal nutrition or reduce the use of pesticides in agriculture.“Yeasts are living organisms whose new properties and benefits are being discovered every day thanks to our R&D centers and our Baking Centers™. For our bread-making activity, they allow constant innovation in response to changing customer needs and consumer tastes. It is this capacity for innovation that allows Lesaffre to be a privileged partner of its customers in the bakery world,” said Antoine Baule, CEO, Lesaffre.
