Anna Hild, Quality Assurance Manager, discusses the Superior Yeast Project and Quality at Fermentis.
Over the past year, there have been some big achievements at Fermentis in terms of quality. Thanks to significant upgrades at one of our major factories, the microbiological quality of our active dry beer yeast has reached a new industry standard. To find out more, we spoke to Anna Hild, our Quality Assurance Manager. Here, she explains what these exciting new developments mean for brewers, and what quality at Fermentis means to her.
Anna, tell us about your role at Fermentis.
Hi, my name is Anna Hild, and I’m the Quality Assurance Manager at Fermentis.
My responsibilities as quality manager are very broad. The role covers a wide range of tasks, from working with the R&D team on raw materials and specifications of new products to providing specialised customer service and up-to-date certifications. I also work closely with our production sites on a daily basis to support them with audits or to review quality control results.
Tell us about your involvement in the Superior Yeast project.
My mission in this project was to assist the team in validating the new quality standards. Together, we worked on defining an enlarged sampling design and an extended control plan. We ensured that the methods we use are precise and sensitive enough to detect the extremely low contamination levels that we are achieving now.
What can brewers expect from our improved beer yeast?
As you know, fermentation and especially pitching is a crucial step in the brewing process. There is always a concern about contamination when adding yeast to the wort. With our improved microbiological quality, we can reassure brewers that Fermentis active dry beer yeast poses no risk to fermentation.
And we’ve not only improved the quality of our product on the inside. We’ve also upgraded our packaging and developed a new tool to help brewers pitch our yeast. The Percy™ piercing device, designed especially for our 500g and 2.5kg bags, helps brewers to pitch our yeast in a clean, safe, and easy way.
What does quality mean to you at Fermentis?
Quality at Fermentis has many different dimensions. We benefit from more than 150 years of experience in yeast manufacturing, thanks to the Lesaffre Group. From the very beginning of the process, when choosing the raw materials, we have rigorous quality requirements.
We then implement strict controls at every step of production. Our goal is to make sure that our product remains stable throughout its shelf life and that our packaging preserves the high vitality and viability of the yeast.
But quality doesn’t stop at the product itself. Our supply chain team makes sure that the product can be delivered on time, all around the world, and in its best condition. Our customer service and technical teams give guidance to our customers when choosing a product. Our product and marketing teams ensure that our technical data sheets are clear and that our customers have access to our latest news, products, and recommendations.
Quality at Fermentis is also about nurturing the desire for continuous improvement. We closely monitor customer satisfaction, follow the market trends and demands, and provide unique solutions for our customers.
In short, our customers are at the centre of everything we do. At Fermentis, quality is a mindset that has always been an essential component of our DNA.
Want to learn more about Fermentis Superior Yeast project? Read more on our dedicated page.
