Lesaffre’s support to the Young Bakers over the past year!

Lesaffre, World leader in yeast production, has supported Shanghai Young Bakers’ since the charity program was launched in 2009. Lesaffre not only sponsors SYB, it also shares its knowledge and passion for baking with the Young Bakers.

In November, Jacky Wang, a technical consultant at Lesaffre Shanghai, gave our students a technical training on yeast. This technical training was essential for students to better understand baking leavening agents and develop their expertise.

In April, Lesaffre organized a two-days trip to Anhui for the Young Bakers to visit its yeast factory. The students learned about the secrets of yeast production and better understood what they were using everyday while baking bread.

Wang Li, a former SYB student and teacher, is now a technical consultant at Lesaffre. In May, she gave our students a training session on baking Taiwanese Bread. Given SYB’s focus on French bakery, this opportunity to learn about Taiwanese bakery was a valuable addition to the students’ curriculum.

Finally, for the first time this year, Lesaffre and SYB launched a new kind of training. Thomas Kalkhoven, Lesaffre’s Shanghai Baking Center Director, developed a specific program for SYB students in collaboration with Lesaffre’s Human Resources Department. This training intended to help students improve their public speaking, teaching and sales skills. Indeed, once students graduate, they are offered various career opportunities, which may require these skills. Some students may not only need to produce quality bread, they may also be doing demonstrations or technical consulting. Knowing how to explain what they are doing while baking requires a specific set of competences acquired through training.

Lesaffre’s Human Resources Department trained the students by teaching them key aspects of body language analysis and control. Throughout this training, and an evaluation trial, students learned how to express themselves while baking bread in front of an audience and a jury composed of Lesaffre and SYB team members. After their final assessment, all students agreed that they had enjoyed the exercise and acknowledged how important these skills were for their future careers.

Thanks to Lesaffre and its employees, the students were offered many great opportunities to acquire precious professional knowledge. These trainings will guide them throughout their careers and help them become better bakers!

We are really grateful for Lesaffre’s longstanding support and consistent inclination to share its expertise with us!

Marine

Program Director