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

met Robert, a macro, who introduced her to the macrobiotic
diet. Christina joined Robert’s company while recovering
from cancer. She left the advertising fi eld completely to
concentrate on getting well and running Simply Natural.
One of the catering company’s fi rst products was tofu
cheese, made by wrapping a fi rm cake of tofu in cheesecloth,
embedding it in sweet white miso, and allowing it to ferment
at a controlled temperature for several days. This product
was made using the traditional Japanese process for Tofu
no Misozuké (Tofu Pickled in Miso), which they learned
from The Book of Tofu (page 110) by Shurtleff and Aoyagi.
These fi rm little bricks, served as a cheese with crackers,
became their showcase item. (Note: A similar product, called
Tofurin, had been developed by Nov. 1983 by Manna in the
Netherlands). But they also made many other tofu dishes
such as various types of stuffed agé (tofu pouches), tofu dips,
quiches, stuffed loaves, pates. You name it, they did it. They
purchased their tofu from a company named Fresh Tofu in
Easton, Pennsylvania.
In December 1984 a group for whom they were
planning to cater a Christmas party requested a non-dairy
cream cheese dip. Robert tried pureeing their tofu cheese
in a blender and discovered a revolutionary new product–A
non-dairy tofu-based cream cheese. To this they could add
fl avors, such as garlic powder, onions & chives, or herbs.
This soft tofu cheese, served as a non-dairy party dip,
became their second showcase product. In the spring of
1985, Cynthia Schwartz, a friend who owned Center Foods,
a leading natural/health food store in Philadelphia, asked if
she could try to sell their soft tofu cheese. Bearing the label
Simply Natural Soft Tofu Cheese, their fi rst commercial
product sold very well. Soon they were selling it in several
stores, delivering it out of the back of the car. Within 4
months, they had distributors in Pennsylvania competing
with one another to sell the product. Finally in October 1985
they signed an 6-months exclusive distribution agreement
with Jerry Schwartz and Earthy Organics, a Delaware Valley
natural foods distributor. Sales grew rapidly and by year’s
end other major East Coast distributors were clamoring for
the product. Jerry kindly let go of his exclusive and Soft
Tofu Cheese was soon being carried by Cornucopia (Rhode
Island, from Dec. 1985), Stow Mills (Vermont, Dec. 1985),
and Tree of Life (Florida, Jan. 1986). In January 1986 Jerry
Schwartz introduced them to their fi rst West Coast Broker,
Roberta Fleischer, of California. Distribution began there in
March. Now sales began to skyrocket. Robert and Christina
soon realized that they were in the wrong business. In May
1986 they dropped the catering business and transformed it
into a tofu product development and marketing company.
But problems also began to grow. As the warm weather of
spring came, the Soft Tofu Cheese, made by people with a
limited knowledge of microbiology and plant sanitation and
now sold throughout the East Coast, began to spoil. Sales
plummeted. By hiring food specialists took and obtaining
HISTORY OF SOY YOGURT & CULTURED SOYMILK 281
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help from Dr. H.L. Wang of the USDA Northern Regional
Research Center at Peoria, Illinois, they were able, largely by
trial and error to fi nally get the problem under control.
In August 1986 they moved from their plant in
Philadelphia into a larger facility in Norma, New Jersey.
The plant’s owner, Bill Schroeder, wanted to buy into their
company. So they incorporated, he let them use the plant
rent free, and he invested a little capital, which they used
the funds to pay off past debts incurred because of the
spoilage problems. The next challenge was to develop and
manufacture a line of second-generation tofu products using
their Soft Tofu Cheese. Continuing to buy their tofu from
Fresh Tofu, they launched Antonio’s Simply Natural Tofu
Pasta (Oct. 1986, fresh pasta products stuffed with their Soft
Tofu Cheese) and a line of Creamy Miso Dressings (Dec.
1986, made with the sweet white miso in which the tofu had
been ripened). In October 1986 they started advertising the
new line in Vegetarian Times. In October 1987 they were
granted a patent on the process for their Soft Tofu Cheese,
and in April 1988 a second patent on the end product. Also
in October they repositioned and repackaged their product
line to cross over into mainstream markets. Soft Tofu
Cheese was renamed Soft Soyalite and Antonio’s Pasta was
renamed Pasta Lite. Christina and Robert were married on 31
December 1987.
In mid-1988 Nasoya Foods in Leominster,
Massachusetts, began tests on making and pasteurizing
Simply Natural’s Soft Soyalite. In early 1987 they had
discussed the possibility of a merger with Nasoya, but
they were not as interested in this as Nasoya was, in part
because Nasoya could not solve key pasteurization and
product fl ow problems. They are now negotiating their
fi rst real outside fi nancing with Leo Blank, who would like
to buy Bill Schroeder’s stock, and give them substantial
capital. They will soon be closing their plant in Norma, New
Jersey. Christina and Robert will be out of manufacturing,
able to focus their full attention on marketing and product
development. Their pasta products are now made at Mays
Landing, south New Jersey and their miso dressings by
Alpha-Pak in San Pedro, California (using both Cold
Mountain Miso and miso recycled from the Soyalite). The
future looks very bright.
Richard Rose. 1988. May 13. Adds: He was told by
Wally Rogers and Tim Huang that in the late 1970s The Soy
Plant in Ann Arbor, Michigan, developed a “Tofu Cream
Cheese,” similar to Simply Natural’s original fi rm Tofu
Cheese (unblended, in a block) and sold it in their deli. A guy
from West Virginia showed them how to make it. Christina
confi rms this: A tall, thin bearded man [not Steve Fiering]
tasted their Soyalite at Anaheim in April 1988. He said that
he or someone he knew had sold a similar product in a fi rm
brick form. But he was never able to develop a good fl avor
and the product never sold well [See 1988 interview with
Steve Fiering]. July 28 update: Nasoya appears to have