The year is 1869 and bakers all over the Netherlands are complaining about the strongly varying quality of the yeast supplied to them by breweries and distilleries. These complaints eventually reached the young scientist Jacques van Marken. Quick to spot an excellent opportunity to make a nice bit of dough for himself, he set out to find yeast of a better quality. His searches were to take him all the way to Vienna, where one Fleischmann taught him how to prepare baking yeast according to a new process. Back in Delft, Van Marken bought a plot of land on which, in 1870, he built his very own yeast plant based on his newly acquired expertise.

Jacques van Marken

The bakers were delighted with the new, dry-pressed yeast of a constant, high quality, which made it much easier for them to bake excellent bread. They were most grateful to Mr Van Marken for his efforts. Meanwhile, Mrs Van Marken was busy doing some scientific research of her own. She discovered a way of converting methylated spirits, a side-product of the yeast's fermentation process, into colognes. Agnetha van Marken's fragrant products were highly esteemed; one of them was indeed awarded a medal at the 1878 world exhibition in Paris. Her husband even managed to find a lucrative use for the residual fluids formed in the production of his yeast, selling them to farmers as slops for their cattle.

Van Marken's views on social entrepreneurship were highly revolutionary. He and his wife introduced pension and profit-sharing schemes for their employees, Articles of Association, the first employee participation body the Netherlands had ever known, the first company fire brigade in Europe and the first Dutch company journal. Next to their plant they built a housing estate specially for their employees, with a park, a shop, a school and recreational facilities.

Since these early years the yeast produced in Van Marken's plant has undergone numerous innovative changes, which have greatly improved its quality and shelf life. During its research into these improvements, the yeast plant, which was at a certain stage named Gist-brocades, developed extensive fermentation and enzyme expertise. It also made various important scientific discoveries leading to a whole range of new products, from bread improvers and baking enzymes to antibiotics - products that are produced and sold all over the world today.

In 1998 Gist-brocades decided to join forces with DSM, a chemical company with an equally eventful history of its own. But in spite of their different backgrounds, the two companies share the same philosophy. The newly created business group was named DSM Bakery Ingredients.

In 2004 the bakery business became non-core for DSM and a divestment decision was made. A management buy-out by Gilde Investment followed in 2005. The company went on as GB Ingredients.

 

In 2006 the bakery ingredients business was sold to Werhahn Group. The yeast business stayed at GB Ingredients, breadimprovers and pastry ingredients now are part of GB Plange, a Werhahn company.

 

GB Plange - like all Werhahn Business Groups - aims to use their innovative technology to offer their customers the best possible added value.