history of soy yogurt, soy acidophilus milk and other ... - SoyInfo Center

true, the company hopes to spoon up a tasty $4 million in
fi rst-year sales...
“The challenge is overcoming tofu’s bland image. ‘Tofu
is not a well understood product,’ says vp/marketing Travis
Burgeson. ‘We’re fi nding that the nutritional image is very
strong, but the uncertainty about taste is a big question for
people. That’s what our ads address.’
“To start, Azumaya is putting $800,000 into a Northern
California radio campaign from freelancer John Crawford.
Spots feature consumer interviews, a takeoff on Bob
Marley’s reggae tune Stir It Up, and the tongue-in-cheek
ending line ‘It’s tofu. But what the heck, try it anyway.’
“Azumaya plans to increase the budget to include TV
and print as it expands distribution to Southern California
and the East next year.”
691. Burgeson, Travis. 1987. Stir Fruity (Interview).
SoyaScan Notes. May 8. Conducted by William Shurtleff of
Soyfoods Center.
• Summary: Stir Fruity represents the fi rst real change in the
yogurt case of supermarkets on the West Coast since Dannon
put fruit in the bottom of yogurt. There are basically three
reasons people do not like most dairy yogurt: it is too sour, it
contains cholesterol, and it contains lactose. Stir Fruity has
none of these problems. Various people were asked to taste
Stir Fruity, then asked if they would buy the product, 86%
of yogurt users said either defi nitely or probably, and 65% of
non-yogurt users said either defi nitely or probably.
The key to their promotional commercial (developed
by John Crawford based on Bob Marley’s reggae song titled
“Stir it Up”) will be to be humorous with tofu, to make it
friendly. They admit: It’s not yogurt. Its also non-dairy and
not sour. They now to pitch it to the black community where
lactose intolerance is high. Calcium lactate is the coagulant.
Jofu product quality has improved over the past year. Jofu
has the fruit stirred in, where Stir Fruity has the fruit on the
bottom. One problem is that Stir Fruity is not as white as
would be ideal. Address: Azumaya Inc., 1575 Burke Ave.,
San Francisco, California 94124.
692. Yan, Huang Y.; Peng, Wang D. Assignors to Taishi
Foods Company, Ltd. (Aomori, Japan). 1987. Method of
producing lactic-acid fermented soy milk. U.S. Patent
4,664,919. May 12. 4 p. Application fi led 28 Dec. 1984.
• Summary: The author has found a new lactic acid
bacterium, called Streptococcus sojalactis, which grows
well in soy milk to give a fermented product very similar
to yogurt and free from the characteristic soymilk odor.
Its bacteriological properties are described in detail. In
classifi cation it falls under Streptococcus, Lactobacillaceae,
Eubacteriales. It is quite similar to Streptococcus cremoris,
Streptococcus lactis, and Streptococcus mitis. But a table
shows its basic differences. It gives soy yoghurt with a low
pH (4.25) after 16 hours of culture. The curd is very fi rm,
HISTORY OF SOY YOGURT & CULTURED SOYMILK 261
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there is almost so soybean odor, there is a strong smell of
acetone and diacetyl, and no unpleasant smell. Note: See
also U.S. Patent 687,238 (FSTA 84-12-28). Address: Beijing,
China.
693. Lafayette, Jon. 1987. Jofu asks consumers to go
‘beyond yogurt.’ New York Post. May 19.
• Summary: Brief history of Metzger’s work. Tomsun
Foods Intl. had sales of $3.1 million last year. The Jofu ad
campaign says “It’s time to go beyond yogurt.” Tomsun will
spend $1.3 million on radio and newspaper advertising to
introduce Jofu. Metzger hopes company sales will rise to $5
million this year.
694. Bhatnagar, P.S. 1987. Project coordinator’s report.
In: All India Coordinated Research Project on Soybean
(India Council of Agricultural Research). Eighteenth annual
workshop: Proceedings & Technical Programme. National
Research Centre for Soybean, Khandwa Road, Indore
452 001, India. See p. 2-23. Held at Univ. of Agricultural
Sciences, Dharwad (Karnataka) 1-3 May 1987.
• Summary: In 1985-86 some 994,000 tonnes of soybeans
(1.3 million hectares) were produced in India. The yield
was 755 kg/ha, far below the world average of 1,700 kg/
ha. Of this, 78.7% was produced in Madhya Pradesh, and
15.6% in Uttar Pradesh. Yet soybean demand in India is
3.5 million tonnes, due largely to the rapid growth of the
soybean oil industry. This is helping greatly in reducing
India’s dependence on imported oil. He summarizes progress
in soybean research, genetics, breeding, seed production,
production technology, seed physiology, microbiology, plant
pathology, entomology, utilization, and economics. Address:
Director, NRCS.
695. Florida Grocer (Miami, Florida). 1987. Products and
partners [Simply Natural, Inc.]. May.
• Summary: “Principals Bob Pirello and Christina Hayes
who founded Simply Natural, Inc. are shown with a variety
of new tofu-based products, including a patented “Tofu
Cheese,” fresh frozen Tofu Pastas, and miso based salad
dressings.” The products are all non-dairy.
696. Food Trade News (Ardmore, Pennsylvania). 1987. Tofu
cheese maker is growing simply naturally. May.
• Summary: Simply Natural formally opened in October
1986. Bob Pirello, while vice president of a major
Philadelphia advertising agency, had run a natural foods
catering service and taught macrobiotic and natural foods
cooking. Christina Hayes worked for 3 years as a graphic
designed for a major Miami advertising agency and 3 years
as owner-operator in food advertising and package design.
Tofu cheese, now patented, involves an aging process. It is
now sold in many chain stores.