Market for Fleischmann's Yeast

Yeast is a product that we all consume regularly. Fleischmann's is the most popular brand of yeast in North America as well as the most common. Without yeast we would not have bread or any baked goods for that matter. Yeast is technically a fungus that is used to raise the dough for bread, but can also be used to ferment beverages, and can be used as a supplement for other foods. Yeast is a raw material being that it is a fungus and we (the consumers) buy it as a raw material off the shelf at local grocery stores.

The main producer of yeast and usually the main brand in stores is a brand called Fleischmann's. Their main factory and likely where the yeast the average consumer in this area buys is in Montreal, Quebec.However there is also a factory for Fleischmann's in Memphis,Tennessee These factory are ran by the corporation "Associated British Foods". However, natural yeasts that can be found pretty much anywhere so they are not limited to one origin. This allows the growing of natural yeasts to be done inside these factories. The factory takes these natural yeasts and put it with various ingredients so the yeast can multiply. The yeast then goes through a process of fermentation until it has multiplied 5-8 times at which it is ready to be harvested (Fleischmann's Yeast: Yeast 101, 2021).Then it is washed and separated from the nutrients for the final product which is referred to as "bakers yeast". This all takes place within the factory.

The production of yeast is done in a factory. Fleischmann's factories are in the first world countries of Canada and the United States opposed to developing countries. These countries have some level of workers and labor rights, which means that the working conditions for the employees are better than a lot of products in third world countries. However, it also means that labor is more expensive for the corporation. Yeast production is similar to farming since you have to plan, grow, and harvest the yeast. So therefore this is likely a job for non college educated citizens of these first world countries and likely immigrants. The average salary for someone who works in yeast production industry is 61 thousand dollars however this includes supervisors and scientists (Payscale, 2021). There is a lot of science involved in creating the right conditions for the yeast to grow so in these factories you also need college educated specialists.

Most yeast consumed in North America is produced in North America as well. Fleischmann's is mostly produced in the United States and Canada which makes it easy to ship to the United States. There are four factories in the United States and two factories in Canada (AB Mauri; Our Locations, 2021). So therefore it is quite easy for yeast to be shipped without using boats or planes. Yeast is most typically shipped in containers on tractor trailers. Yeast is not good to be shipped when the weather is extremely hot. However, these tractor trailers that deliver to warehouses and grocery stores have a unit in it to control the temperature of the product. The product is shipped to warehouses, grocery stores, and commercial companies based on which plant is the nearest to them to prevent anything too drastic happening to the yeast on long trips. Grocery stores are also kept at a reasonable temperature as well, so the yeast in the packaging on the shelf does not get ruined.

This commodity requires no outsourcing because it is fully produced in the Fleischmann's yeast factory. There is no contracting out in order for the production of this product. Fleischmann's is controlled by the corporation Associated British Foods that bought Fleischmann's in 2004. Associated British Foods oversees and is the corporate entity that controls the production of the product. The importation, and distribution for commercial bakers that rely on Fleischmann's yeast is serviced by the company AB Mauri. While the importation and distribution for the retail consumer market of the yeast is taken care of by the company ACH Food Companies (Fleischmann's; Our History, 2021). They make the yeast with their employee's in their factory. They themselves bring the yeast across the border from Canada to the US. They also deliver the product to the warehouses via tractor trailer themselves. They are self sufficient and were efficient until the jump in demand from the pandemic.

The consumers of this commodity can be anyone. Obviously this is a product that is available in local grocery stores and can be bought by anyone. There is no specific group of people that buy yeast, it is a common product that people buy in order to make baked goods in their home such as bread. However, an important player that buys yeast are commercial bakers. They however, did not increase their consumption during the pandemic. It was the casual consumers who would buy the product at the supermarket. What first caused the shortages were people "panic buying" at the start of the pandemic and yeast was one of the products that were excessively bought in panic (Guynn, 2020). People being at home more due to the lockdowns led to an increase in "newbie bread makers" whom this product became more important to over the pandemic (CBC Radio, 2020). People being at home more led to more people wanting to spend their newfound free time at home baking. It is generally agreed upon that this is the main reason there were yeast shortages in grocery stores.

The major aspect that was affected was that companies such as Fleischmann's reported "unprecedented demand" during the pandemic and they were not able to keep up with it Sales on April 11th 2020 experienced a 410% increase from the previous year (Guynn, 2020). The supply chain was not ready for such a drastic change/increase in demand. However, the good news for Fleischmann's Yeast is that it is impossible to be short of natural resources for yeast because it is a natural fungus that can be found anywhere. According to John Heilman (Vice president of the company that owns Fleischmann's) thte way the company addressed this disruption was by hiring new workers, adding never used before machinery to the plant in an attempt to ramp up production (Guynn, 2020). These measures taken helped address and resolve the issue. However, the demand for yeast went back down once the United States economy began to reopen and people were going back to work. So there are no more shortages in stores as of now due to the increase of production and the decrease of demand now that the lockdowns are over.

Yeast is consumable so therefore it is the packaging that it comes in which has stuff happen to it after use. The yeast is condensed and packaged in what the company calls "packets" which is just foil. This is sealed air tight in order to preserve the yeast. Thankfully, the packets the yeast comes in can be recycled which is good for the carbon footprint of the product. The foil has to be clean however in order to be recycled so it is impairative that they are rinsed after use. However, when they foil packets are brought to the recycling plant they are cleaned, sorted, and crushed upon their arrival. After this process the foil is shredded, melted and then re-solidifies back to its normal form (Husband, 2012). You cannot compost foil because it is not bio degradable. You obviously can throw out foil, it is done all the time and if you do not rinse the foil packaging then you have to throw it out. One thing that is important to know, if you throw a dirty piece of foil into the recycling you not only ruin the piece you threw in. You also have now potentially made the whole recycling bin unable to be recycled because they are not clean anymore.

Yeast 101: Fleischmann's®. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://www.fleischmannsyeast.com/baking-basics/yeast-101/

Salary for industry: Yeast manufacturing. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Industry=Yeast_Manufacturing/Salary

Our history. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://www.fleischmannsyeast.com/our-history/

Guynn, J., & Tyko, K. (2020, April 30). Dry yeast flew off shelves during Coronavirus Pantry Stocking. here's when you can buy it again. Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2020/04/23/coronavirus-pantry-baking-yeast-shortage/3004274001/

Husband, T. (2012). Aluminum recycling. Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/past-issues/archive-2011-2012/aluminum-recycling.html

Our Locations: North America. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://www.abmauri.com/our-locations.php

Quebec yeast factory works overtime to meet rising demand from Newbie Bread Bakers | CBC radio. (2020, April 07). Retrieved October 15, 2021, from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-7-2020-1.5524504/quebec-yeast-factory-works-overtime-to-meet-rising-demand-from-newbie-bread-bakers-1.5524658