The company was founded by Louis Lesaffre, the co-founder of Bonduelle, in the mid-19th century.[1][2]

One of its subsidiaries, Bio Springer,[3] was founded by Baron Max de Springer in 1872 in Maisons-Alfort.[4]

In 2004, it formed a North American joint-venture with Archer Daniels Midland, known as Red Star Yeast.[5]

In 2007, it was the world's largest producer of yeast.[2] In 2011 it bought the factory of "Voronezh Yeast" LLC in Voronezh.[citation needed]

After the foundation of the Lesaffre Advanced Fermentations (LEAF) subsidiary, the Swiss biofuel start-up Butalco, founded by Eckhard Boles and Gunter Festel, was acquired in July 2014.[6] With this acquisition, Lesaffre entered the market for biobutanol.[7]

In 2014, it had an annual turnover of 1.5 billion euros, 7,700 employees and 80 subsidiaries in various countries.[8]

In 2021, it was ranked 8th on FoodTalks' list of Top 30 Global Probiotic Food Ingredient Companies.[