"Let them eat bread!" would be a fitting motto for Frenchman Benoit Lesaffre who is bringing an important aspect of his country's culinary savoir faire to the traditionally rice-eating markets of Asia.

As managing director of Lesaffre (Far East) Limited, which produces and distributes yeast and baking products, he has seen rising demand in China and across the region for bread in recent years. This prompted his company to establish production facilities in the mainland, leasing a factory in Nanjing two years ago that it is now negotiating to buy.

Mr Lesaffre's Hong Kong-based company is a subsidiary of a business founded by his family in France in 1853. He is expanding the firm's business in China using Hong Kong as his base.

"Business is in the air here. Even people who are not business-minded become so after being here for a while - people here are naturally very good at it.

"Hong Kong is a great base to learn how to operate in China. Even though I speak Mandarin, my local Chinese staff help me understand the mind-set and the business culture which is very different to European ways of communicating and negotiating."

"It is much easier to set up operations here than any other country in the world - there is no red tape at all," he says, also noting the low tax rates in Hong Kong. He adds that the quality of the workforce is high, making Hong Kong an efficient place to do business.

Benoit Lesaffre, who has lived in Hong Kong for over 15 years, adds that Hong Kong's geographic location provides easy access not only to the mainland but to the rest of Asia, which is a growing market.

"In Europe, the market cannot really grow any more, this part of the world is where the demand for bread products now needs to be satisfied.

In a region where rice is a staple, Mr Lesaffre notes that yeast is now used in traditional Asian products as well as in Western-style bakeries. "Chinese steamed buns, for instance, once used baking soda but now yeast is preferred as it rises faster," he says. "Chinese wineries, breweries and distilleries also use yeast."

Food clearly plays an important role in his life, and as a self-confessed gourmet Mr Lesaffre says that he is a big fan of Chinese cuisine . "Chinese cooks are the best in the world," he declares. "But in Hong Kong more people are getting familiar with Western food and there are plenty of good European restaurants too.

"It still amazes me how international the city is. I constantly meet people from all over the world that live here - socially it's much easier to meet people here than elsewhere. And the so-called 'brain drain' of the 1990s has been reversed as more professionals recognise the opportunities here."

Away from the pressure of work Mr Lesaffre is a keen yachtsman spends a lot of his free time on his catamaran Atmosphere. In April he set a record in the San Fernando race from Hong Kong to the Philippines, which he completed in under 50 hours.

"I also enjoy hiking in Hong Kong. I'm still amazed that I can be on the crowded streets of Causeway Bay on a Sunday morning and then in the hills of Lantau Island, where I hardly see anyone, on the same afternoon. I have real quality of life here."