Angel Yeast announced the opening of its new R&D complex in June 2021. Located at the company’s headquarters in Yichang City, Hubei Province in central China, the center spans a total area of 36,000sqm and can house up to 1,500 people for R&D and related work. The project for the facility started in October 2019, and more than 196 million yuan (USD30 million) has been invested to date, according to the announcement made by Angel Yeast. The company estimates that over USD60 million will be allocated annually to scientific research.

“We are thrilled to open our new R&D complex after more than a year of planning and construction. 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 healthcare, and non-yeast related biotechnologies,” said Xiong Tao, chairman of Angel Yeast.

The company’s new R&D 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 & health, and testing.

Researchers at Angel Yeast’s complex will work on developing plant-based meat alternatives, food flavor enhancements, gut health and probiotics, clean nutritional sources for fermentation, immune health and sports nutrition, alternatives to antibiotics, and yeast production and sustainable development. The company has partnered with Novozymes to improve the application of enzymes in pasta products and with Chr. Hansen to develop probiotic formulations to meet the health needs of different consumer groups.