The Hattiesburg City Council unanimously passed a completely new set of agreements between USA Yeast and the City of Hattiesburg. Officials are saying this new agreement will improve the city’s wastewater treatment in the foreseeable future.

Stipulations within the agreement have USA Yeast upgrading [...]]]> By: Terry L. Jones | HattiesburgAmerican.com | Thursday, December 15, 2011

The Hattiesburg City Council unanimously passed a completely new set of agreements between USA Yeast and the City of Hattiesburg. Officials are saying this new agreement will improve the city’s wastewater treatment in the foreseeable future.

Stipulations within the agreement have USA Yeast upgrading its manufacturing process with help from the Mississippi Development Authority and the City of Hattiesburg.

“This has been a long journey, but I feel good about the solution that we’ve worked out,” said Mike Lavallee, USA Yeast president. “We’re looking at moving forward and break ground as soon as possible. This is going to be good for the city, and USA Yeast, to get this thing resolved so we can move on to solving the real issue.”

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USA Yeast was the proud sponsor of the Palmer’s Crossing Block Party. The event was attended by hundreds of people from the area celebrating safety in their community.

Ms. Benton, the [...]]]> The City hosted the 28th annual National Night Out (a unique crime and drug prevention event) on Tuesday, August 02 in various neighborhoods across Hattiesburg.

USA Yeast was the proud sponsor of the Palmer’s Crossing Block Party. The event was attended by hundreds of people from the area celebrating safety in their community.

Ms. Benton, the organizer of the event, asked USA Yeast to participate and hopes to continue to partner with them in future. “We are very grateful for their support and openness with our community.”

USA Yeast is continuing to work with neighborhoods throughout the community, showing their commitment to their home, Hattiesburg.

Stacey Miller, Plant Manager of USA Yeast recently toured the Guiding Light Youth Center and spent some time explaining the process of growing yeast and subsequently the making of bread.

Stacey had a great time and all the kids were given T-shirts. Stacey and USA Yeast have been working with a number [...]]]>

Stacey Miller, Plant Manager of USA Yeast recently toured the Guiding Light Youth Center and spent some time explaining the process of growing yeast and subsequently the making of bread.

Stacey had a great time and all the kids were given T-shirts. Stacey and USA Yeast have been working with a number of youth groups in the area educating them on the process of making the bread we eat everyday.

The flooding of the Mississippi River put a lot of people’s lives on hold, as well as businesses. Residents and businesses adjacent to the Mississippi River operate in a different manner, or halt them all together for the duration of the flood.

Two bakers’ yeast companies, located in Memphis, had to [...]]]> By: Cory Diaz

The flooding of the Mississippi River put a lot of people’s lives on hold, as well as businesses. Residents and businesses adjacent to the Mississippi River operate in a different manner, or halt them all together for the duration of the flood.

Two bakers’ yeast companies, located in Memphis, had to drastically alter their day-to-day operations to continue to function. This is where USA Yeast saw an opportunity to lend a helping hand.

Once the news of the floods reached Hattiesburg, Miss., where USA Yeast is located, the company begun preparations to assist their two fellow yeast companies.

USA Yeast started ramping up its production to help the other companies meet the demands for bakers’ yeast. USA Yeast also put more delivery trucks on the road, as well as delivering to their fellow competitors’ customers and wholesalers.

The two Memphis yeast companies are responsible for approximately 30% of the bakers’ yeast produced in the United States, and without USA Yeast’s assistance during the flood, some areas in the country could have experienced a bread shortage. But together, the threat of a bread shortage was averted.

Although these three companies compete on a daily basis for business, it’s times like this that draws everyone together for a common purpose to all come out better on the other side.

We appreciate you visiting our site, as we aspire to be your destination to fulfill all your “kneads” concerning USA Yeast or just bakers’ yeast in general. Please continue to stop by for news updates with USA Yeast as well as the yeast industry. While you are [...]]]> Welcome to the newly-redesigned USA Yeast web site.

We appreciate you visiting our site, as we aspire to be your destination to fulfill all your “kneads” concerning USA Yeast or just bakers’ yeast in general. Please continue to stop by for news updates with USA Yeast as well as the yeast industry. While you are here, look around the site. We have pictures of our plant, as well as the story of how we come to land in the great city of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Again, thank you for visiting our site.

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The mighty Mississippi, recently crested 14 ft. above flood stage in Memphis, Tenn. This, of course, is following on the heels of a devastating spate of tornados in the mid-Atlantic region, and occurs only months after the record snowfalls in Boston, New York and Chicago [...]]]> Baking Management: The Resource for Volume Bakers | By: Matt Reynolds

The mighty Mississippi, recently crested 14 ft. above flood stage in Memphis, Tenn. This, of course, is following on the heels of a devastating spate of tornados in the mid-Atlantic region, and occurs only months after the record snowfalls in Boston, New York and Chicago that first planted the seed for the now bulging rivers. I was about 30 minutes removed from being trapped in one of those snowbound cars seen temporarily entombed on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago–lucky for me, I snuck out of work early that day.

But as wild as the weather has been lately, I wouldn’t presume to tell anyone why it has been so. Global warming, global cooling, natural fluctuations or man-made killstorms–I have neither the requisite degrees nor the context of thousands of years of weather patterns to make any claims one way or another. I’m no more a global warming denier than I am an Al Gore devotee, so don’t expect any lectures. Instead, I’d like to highlight our industry’s encouraging reaction to recent weather extremes.

The weather has a direct impact on wheat yield, which then has a direct impact on flour prices. But we have a group in Washington in the ABA watching our backs, fighting to provide bakers an umbrella in the storm of commodity speculation and index funds. It’s heartening to see the industry band together in a common cause, recognizing we’re all in the same boat.

Speaking of boats, employees of Lallemand/American Yeast Corp., Memphis, have practically needed boats to get to and from work during the recent floods. The plant is thankfully located on dry ground, but the access roads to and from have been submerged.

When a yeast supplier with as large a footprint as Lallemand is temporarily hobbled, things can get tough for bakers who, without yeast, can’t bake bread. But Gary Edwards, president, American Yeast, wasn’t about to let a mere 14 feet of extra standing water get in the way of making his deliveries. It was a logistics nightmare, but he used every resource available to make deliveries.

The company leaned heavily on other Lallemand plants in Montreal and Baltimore to fill orders. They even sourced from competitors. According to Cory Diaz, media relations, USA Yeast, Hattiesburg, Miss., collaborating with fellow yeast manufacturers is essential “to help stave off a potential shortage of bread in some areas.”

Competitors’ willingness to cooperate in times of crisis is a testament to both companies’ devotion to customers and commitment to the industry’s overall health.

And as much as we’re influenced by the weather, baking truly is a rain or shine industry.