The Advanced Yeast Project at Algist Bruggeman
At Fermentis, quality and innovation are two driving forces behind everything we do. We’re dedicated to the continual improvement of our product selection, as well as the development of new products and technologies to meet our customers’ ever-changing needs and requirements.
For the past 20 years, we have worked to establish our position as the market leader of quality solutions for fermented beverages. Today, brewers across the globe trust Fermentis active dry yeast (ADY) to produce of award-winning beers. In an independent survey conducted in 2024, Fermentis SafeAle™ and SafLager™ yeast strains were found to have the highest viable cell density specs with the lowest contaminant limits, making them the purest ADY products available on the market.
“The Advanced Yeast project was a big investment, and it’s paid off. Our new facility at Algist Bruggeman and our new packaging is designed in such a way as to protect the quality of our yeast from start to finish – from production to packaging to pitching.”
– Stéphane Meulemans, General Manager of Fermentis
Advanced Yeast
Not ones to rest on our laurels, in 2024 we completed an exciting new project at Algist Bruggeman, one of our major production plants located in Ghent, Belgium. A team of experts from Fermentis, Lesaffre and Algist Bruggeman, working in partnership with independent contractors, was tasked with co-developing state-of-the-art new facilities, machinery and packaging lines with the goal of further improving our yeast quality.
“The project is entirely dedicated to brewer’s yeast in the dry phase, which is where there is the highest risk of foreign bodies coming in,” explains Stéphane Meulemans, General Director of Fermentis. “Our new facilities allow us to isolate production lines, close and clean them differently. We designed and installed a state-of-the-art system that allows us to manage the packaging lines in a unique way. As a result of this investment, we have significantly reduced the possibility of foreign cells contaminating our brewing yeast.”
Yeast quality is measured by the number of foreign cells or contaminants present in a product. Our new packaging facility at Algist Bruggeman has reduced this rate for ADY from 100,000 to 1 million foreign yeast cells per 10 billion, to between 100 and 1000 foreign yeast cells per 10 billion. This is an exciting new industry standard for quality and means that brewers can depend on Fermentis products for reliability and consistent results when brewing now more than ever.
Make-To-Order Labeling
The new production and packaging facilities at Algist Bruggeman were designed and built not only to further improve the quality of our ADY products, but also to meet challenging labeling, traceability and logistical requirements. “The brewer’s yeast we produce at Algist Bruggeman is exported all over the world,” says Stéphane. “The challenge this presents is that not all countries have the same regulatory constraints on imports in terms of labeling. You’re also dealing with different languages, typefaces and characters, and you’re required to produce labels with certain information which differs from country to country.”
To better service our vast distribution network of more than 100 countries around the world, we have upgraded our primary and secondary packaging lines at Algist Bruggeman with a fully automated intermediate storage warehouse and a Make-To-Order (MTO) labeling system. These developments allow us to better address complex regulation issues and service market- or customer-specific requirements. “This Make-To-Order system not only gives us more flexibility to better service our customers and distributors around the globe,” says Stéphane, “but it also helps to ensure products can be delivered on time and in the best condition.”
Our new primary label booklets contain product information in seven languages, while the secondary MTO regulatory labels can be customized depending on the client, destination and marketing operations of our products. Each 500g and 2.5kg packet of Fermentis advanced brewing yeast is also now printed with a unique QR code for improved product traceability and access to product data. This allows distributors and customers quick access to production information and technical data.
Patented Easy-To-Open Technology
In addition to these changes in labeling, we have also updated our product packaging. New packaging features for brewers include an E2O™ (Easy-To-Open) sticker to reduce cross-contamination when pitching yeast. The new E2O™ sticker has been designed for use with our innovative piercing and dosing tools. These handy pitching tools, including Percy™ for home and craft brewers, allow brewers to quickly and easily pitch 500g and 2.5kg packets of Fermentis ADY, while simultaneously decreasing the possibility of cross-contamination.
Quality and Innovation in our DNA
Quality and innovation will always be key drivers of our business evolution. The new production and packaging developments at Algist Bruggeman reflect these values and have been instrumental in further improving our products and customer service around the world. “We’re very proud of this achievement,” says Stéphane.
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