Asahi Group Foods Acquires Shares in German Beer Yeast Products Company

Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.

(Tokyo, Japan - March 10, 2025)—Asahi Group Foods, Ltd., a part of the Asahi Group, signed a share transfer agreement on March 5, 2025, with the shareholders of Leiber GmbH (Head office: Niedersachsen, Germany, hereinafter Leiber), a brewer’s yeast-related products manufacturing and sales company with global operations, mainly in Europe. Under the agreement, Asahi Group Foods plans to acquire 100% of the shares of Leiber by the end of April 2025.

Leiber was founded in 1954 and is a business-to-business beer yeast-related products company. It leverages strengths in product development proposals for customers to make and sell seasonings utilizing dried yeast, yeast extract, and yeast cell walls; functional ingredients; animal feed; and cell and microbial culture media. Leiber has six factories in Germany, Spain, and Poland and a sales network spanning Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas.

Through its acquisition of Leiber, Asahi Group Foods gains a foundation for its yeast business in Europe. It will combine its yeast cultivation technology developed in Japan with processing technologies for yeast extract and yeast cell walls to strengthen its yeast business. This ensures its contribution to a sustainable society by addressing future food-related challenges, such as food shortages, protein deficiencies, and shifts in food cultures.

Demand for yeast extract, a food ingredient made from yeast cells, has increased in recent years. It is a natural seasoning that enhances umami, a rich or meaty flavor; accentuates ingredients; and adds complexity to the taste of various foods. Globally, rising health consciousness is driving shifts in food preferences and production, leading to increased consumption of plant-based and processed foods, while simultaneously fostering the diversification of food cultures such as vegetarianism and veganism. The market for yeast extract is expected to grow at a rate of 8.5% from 2023 to 2029, according to Fortune Business Insight 2023.

As global food shortages and other social issues gain attention, the use of yeast overall is expected to rise. Yeast serves as a seasoning in the form of yeast extract and as a protein source through yeast cell walls, which contain dietary fiber as well as protein.

Asahi Group Foods will contribute globally to a sustainable society by providing safe and reliable supplies of yeast extract and yeast cell wall food ingredients that address changing conceptions of well-being needs. The company will continue to invest in the Asahi Group’s new growth business of microbials to secure its and the Asahi Group’s competitiveness in the growing market for yeast.

“This investment marks a new step for our company into the global yeast product market, particularly in Europe. We intend to combine Leiber GmbH’s excellent technological capabilities, sales network, and customer base with our strengths to create value and to nurture this growth driver for the Asahi Group.”

The Asahi Group has been researching beer yeast, a by-product of the beer manufacturing process, since the Meiji era. As early as 1930, it launched Ebios Tablets, a gastrointestinal and nutritional supplement made from dried yeast. In 1966, it developed Japan’s first yeast extract and continues to work on the most effective utilization of beer yeast.

Beginning January 2024, Asahi Group Foods expanded its production of yeast extract. Asahi Breweries began cultivating yeast for yeast extract at its Ibaraki Brewery to ensure a stable supply of raw material for the heightened manufacture of yeast extract at the Tochigi Koganei Factory of Asahi Group Foods.

Asahi Group Foods possesses long-standing yeast cultivation and processing technologies for yeast extract and yeast cell walls. Its domestic yeast business sales are among the top in the industry.