INGREDIENTS70 years of
INGREDIENTS70 years of Innovation - LeiberCelebrates its AnniversaryUnique in the world: hundreds of healthy products from a single raw materialLeiber celebrates its anniversary with over 200 partners, friends and employees70 years of sustainable upcycling of brewers’ yeastWhen Franz Leiber founded the companythat now bears his name on 6 March 1954,the word upcycling didn't yet exist. Thefounder's basic idea of obtaining valuableextracts from secondary beer brewingstreams was also innovative. Leiber isnow a globally networked specialist forbrewers' yeast, and develops ingredientsfor biotechnology, the food industry,animal nutrition and agriculture in its ownlaboratories. To accomplish this, over 200employees in Bramsche work togetherwith around 65 partners worldwideto refine brewers' yeast, thus makingLeiber GmbH, which has developedfrom BierhefeverarbeitungsgesellschaftFranz Leiber & Co over the past 70 years,a highly-specialized market leader. IanHealey was invited to find out more at avery special event.“What do bodybuilders, vegans, winelovers, farmed salmon, dairy cows andriding horses all over the world have incommon? They all love Leiber products,”said Managing Director Bernd Schmidt-Ankum on the occasion of the company'sbirthday. Leiber GmbH from Bramsche-Engter in Germany has been refiningyeast from beer production for 70 yearsnow. A single raw material is turned intohundreds of products for biotechnology,livestock and pet food, food supplementsand food. The grandson of founder FranzLeiber emphasized that this uniquesuccess story would not be possiblewithout the many excellent minds andhands. “We have retained a start-upmentality over seven decades, whichmakes me very proud. The ultra-modernbuilding, our new campus, where we areguests today, represents precisely thiscreativity and innovative strength. We willdevelop many more ideas here.”The new light-flooded headquarters notonly houses offices, but also research anddevelopment as well as a test kitchen.More than 200 business partners andfriends were able to admire the uniquelysustainable Leiber Campus for the firsttime at the official anniversary receptionand taste some of the products live onsite. “What our colleagues produce hereevery day from just one raw material youcan almost call ‘magic’,” related LeiberManaging Director Gilbert Klausmeyer,sharing his enthusiasm. The varietyranges from preparations from largeGerman drugstore chains to strengthenthe immune system to Britain's favoritespread. Simone Erb, Eike Meyer-Wetjenand Dr. Holger Kühlwein reported thatthere is no end in sight with a brief insightinto current developments in the areas ofnutraceuticals (food supplements), foodand aquaculture."Give Yeast a Second Life"Innovation is the company's DNA. Incooperation with diverse customers,new products are constantly beingdeveloped in the company’s internalResearch and Development department.Its laboratories are an important elementof the new Leiber Campus which wasinaugurated in 2023."With the Leiber Campus, we want, firstly,to offer our staff a good place to workand meet up and, secondly, to invest inLeiber's successful future at the Bramschesite", continued Gilbert Klausmeyer.Such an anniversary lends an opportunityto look back and take stock. This wasbeautifully demonstrated by artist ElenaHandel using sand painting. She tracedseven decades of sustainable upcyclingBernd Schmidt-Ankum welcomes the guests8Technology & Marketing
INGREDIENTSFranz Leiber founded the company in March 1954at global market level on a pane of glass– followed live by the eyes of the guests,who watched intently as one milestoneartistically passed into the next - from thefounding of the company in 1954 to theconstruction of the new campus last year.Historical flashbackIn 1954, Franz Leiber founded the“Bierhefeverarbeitungsgesellschaft FranzLeiber & Co” in Damme. His family hadbeen running an agricultural tradingbusiness since 1798, so he was borninto the agricultural and food industry.Leiber's innovative and sustainable idea:to make the vitamin B complex frombrewers’ yeast, which at the time wasstill little researched, usable for animalhusbandry. The breakthrough came tenyears later. Through his own researchand development, Leiber had developeda process with which the brewers’ yeastcould be dried while at the same timepreserving the valuable and healthyingredients.In 1994, the new plant in Bramsche wasput into operation, a Polish subsidiary wasfounded in 2003 and a Russian subsidiaryin 2009. In 2024, Leiber takes over theSpanish company Aplicaciones Biológicaa la Nutrición S.L. (ABN).Today, the main site in Bramsche-Engter ishome to a state-of-the-art extraction plantwith three drying spray towers, a spaciouscampus, well-equipped laboratoriesand a modern high-bay warehouse. Inaddition to all economic development,the company has always focused onsustainability: in 2024, its own biomasspower plant was put into operationto reduce CO2 emissions. This coversaround 80 percent of the site's energyconsumption. Leiber aims to achievecompletely climate-neutral productionby 2030. The down-to-earth and inventivespirit of the founder continues to have animpact today. “We are proud of our past,but look forward to the future. There areplenty of plans!” says Bernd Schmidt-Ankum.Technology & MarketingFor more informationwww.leibergmbh.dePhotos: Leiber GmbHLeiber aims to achieve completely climate-neutral production by 2030. The downto-earthand inventive spirit of the founder continues to have an impact today.About LeiberLeiber refines brewers’ yeast to produce innovative products forhumans and animals. For customers they carry out research in theirown laboratories and develop tailor-made product solutions forhealthy nutrition, biotechnology and agricultural applications. Leiberreliably supplies excellent products – and have been upcycling atworld-market level since 1954.Issue 4 20249
