YICHANG, CHINA – Angel Yeast Co., Ltd. has opened a 387,500-square-foot complex in Yichang for industry technology research and development. The Yichang-based company invested 196 million yuan ($30 million) into the operation, which houses up to 1,500 people. Angel Yeast plans to allocate an estimated $60 million annually into scientific research at the complex.

The complex contains nine technical centers, respectively, for yeast and enzyme, industrial and brewing microbiology, protein nutrition and food flavoring, baking and Chinese dim sum, agricultural biotechnology, environmental protection, industrial innovation, nutrition and health, and testing. Researchers will be active in plant-based meat alternatives, food flavor enhancements, gut health and probiotics, clean nutritional sources of fermentation, immune health and sports nutrition, alternatives to antibiotics, and yeast production and sustainable development.

“We are thrilled to open our new R&D complex after more than a year of planning and construction,” said Xiong Tao, chairman of Angel Yeast. “We believe this project will further accelerate the advancement of Angel Yeast’s innovation system in major industries, including yeast and yeast derivatives, healthy ingredients and raw materials, nutrition and health care, and non-yeast related biotechnologies.”

Angel Yeast, founded in 1986, has regional service centers to provide technical guidance for product applications in local markets, including Cairo, Egypt; Lipetsk, Russia; and Manilla, the Philippines. The company has partnered with Novozymes to improve the application of enzymes in pasta products and with Chr. Hansen to develop probiotic formulations.