by Chen Jiaqi

 

 

 

 

Pakistani Kaak bread, Iranian Sangak bread, Turkish ramadan bread, German rye bread, Russian bread … a variety of bread has been on display at the Food Pavilion of the 4th CIIE. "We have prepared a world bread display wall to present distinctive bread from Iran, Pakistan, France, the United States and China," Chen Minghao, corporate publicity manager of Lesaffre China, told China Economic Net at the 4th CIIE.

 

 

 

 

Bread can’t be made without yeast. As a pasta-based country, Pakistan imports a large amount of yeast every year, and the demand keeps increasing. According to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Pakistan spent USD 8.48 million on yeast imports (2102 Yeast, Prepared Baking Powder) from July 2020 to June 2021, a 36% increase from the previous fiscal year. More than half of the yeast imports came from China.

 

According to the latest data from General Administration of Customs of China, Pakistan imported 2,126 tons of active yeast (HS Code: 21021000) from China from January to September 2021. So how does China make yeast? Is it possible for Pakistan to make its own yeast?

 

 

According to Chen Minghao, molasses, a by-product from the processing of sugar cane, is just the quality raw material for yeast cultivation and can reduce carbon emissions. Yeast plants are mostly located near sugarcane production areas. "The sugar mills are mainly located in Laibin City of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. We go directly to the mills to collect molasses and transport it to our factory as yeast culture medium," he added.

 

Molasses is a sticky, dark brown, semi-fluid by-product of sugar making. In China, molasses is mainly used to produce alcohol, yeast and feed. "The biggest benefit of adding yeast to feed as a species of beneficial bacteria is that it reduces the addition of antibiotics and the impact of biomagnification on human health," Chen Minghao explained.

 

As Pakistan is a major sugarcane producer in the world, can the molasses left over from sugar making be used for export or yeast production? The SBP data shows that in the last fiscal year (July 2020-June 2021), there was a sharp decrease in the export value of Pakistani molasses, registering only USD 107,000 (1703 Molasses Extracted from Sugar), while the export value was USD 5,018,000 in July 2019-June 2020.

 

"Our focus has always been on quality sugar. We want to make full use of sugarcane and get molasses from it, which can be supplied to different industries, but our main task is to produce sugar," said Faizan Farrukh Lashari, general manager of Pattoki Sugar Mills.

 

 

"The molasses, a by-product from the processing of sugar cane, can be used for export, but it is not getting everyone's attention at the moment. The government should value and standardize the molasses industry, as farmers can benefit from it, which in turn will contribute to an increase in sugar production, realization of sugar exports and decline of domestic sugar prices," said Iskandar Khan, the central president of Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, in an interview with China Economic Net.