Demand for yeast products soaring

As many people turn to baking bread at home amid the restrictions on moving around, it is now difficult to find yeast products on the shelves in Istanbul.

"Fortunately, the bakery shops haven't faced a problem of finding yeast," said Bakeries Federation of Turkey head Halil İbrahim Balçı.

"I hope, there won't be a problem [of yeast scarcity] on the supermarket shelves soon," he added, recalling that tariffs on molasses, a substance contained in yeast, brewing, distilling, canning and confectionary products, have recently been lifted.

While demand for yeast products from households is on the rise, sales to the bakeries has been decreasing, said Ünsal Yamaner, general manager of industrial yeast producer Lesaffre.

"Demand from retail customers has increased six-fold in March when compared to February. We can expect a similar trend in April," he said.

The company has developed new product varieties and package sizes, he added.

Molasses is also used in producing cologne which is being widely used in Turkey as a disinfectant replacement. The Turkish Trade Ministry has recently decided to take exports of ethanol, a chemical compound used to produce cologne, under control due to increasing demand.

Economy, coronavirus,