Cheap labour and reduced manufacturing costs are allowing Chinese yeast extract suppliers to under-cut their European counterparts. While European suppliers claim that the Chinese product is inferior to that produced in Europe, it is, nonetheless, food for thought for the future.   

 

 It is thought that while the Chinese do not necessarily have a price advantage where molasses are concerned, the fact that they can undercut the Europeans on labour and manufacturing gives them a considerable advantage.   

 

 The global yeast market is growing at between three and four per cent. The Chinese market is experiencing growth at a rate of 10 per cent.   

 

 More disposable income and rapidly changing eating habits in China are cited as the driving factors behind the growth of the Chinese yeast extract market. In the UK, Colin Simmonds, business development director for yeast and bakery ingredients supplier, AB Mauri, said that labour wouldn’t be a huge element of the cost. “You underestimate product quality at your peril,” he warned.