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

those extended with soy are seen as becoming increasingly
popular. The company is now approaching the 100 million
mark sales level and employs 350 men and women. It is
in the top 10 of the 70 manufacturers of natural foods in
Germany, with a market share of about 10%. Each year it
ships about 15,000 tons of natural foods from Lueneburg to
the country’s roughly 2,700 Reformhaeuser (natural/health
food retail stores). The company makes an assortment of
300 vegetarian food products, mostly from cereal grains and
soybeans. The latter, grown in the USA, Brazil, and China,
offer many possibilities. They can be fashioned into spread
for bread, milk, or tofu.
Makowski sees the market for tofu, which resembles
Quark, as especially promising. It can be nicely seasoned
with spices such as paprika, curry, soy sauce, and/or herbs,
and made into meatless sausages. The Reformhaeuser
pioneered in introducing non-dairy margarine, whole-grain
bread, and Muesli to Europe. Makowski sees the next wave
as being tofu boom products. A photo shows the company’s
3-level soymilk plant that produces 20 million liters a year in
500 ml and 1 liter containers.
Note added by Anders Lindner, head of STS: Up to now
the plant has produced soymilk and desserts. Soon they will
also start to produce tofu sausages, yogurt, and pâtés.
Mr. Makowski, eyeing the big potential market for tofu
products, is a bit worried that the big food heavyweights
such as Unilever, Nestlé, Kraft, etc. might enter this market.
When the sale of tofu products begins, DVG’s sales are
expected to exceed DM 100 million. Address: Lueneburg,
West Germany.
809. Terault, Michael. 1989. Tomsun emerges from
bankruptcy, town to be paid. Recorder (Greenfi eld,
Massachusetts). Feb. 9. p. 1, 12.
• Summary: “Tomsun Foods International emerged from
bankruptcy Wednesday after a federal judge approved the
tofu company’s reorganization plan. The plan allows Tomsun
to settle its debts with some 200 unsecured creditors and
continue operation under new ownership. The company had
fi led for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the
U.S. Bankruptcy Code last spring. Under the reorganization,
the company’s soybean-based products will no longer
be made in Greenfi eld, but in New York and Vermont by
contracted suppliers.” The former Tomsun building was sold
recently. Tomsun will open a local sales offi ce, with a staff of
5, at 247 Wells St. Sales and marketing operations will also
be conducted in Boston and New York. William Holmes of
Port Washington, New York, bailed out the company when
he agreed to buy it. “Holmes has 35 years experience in the
dairy food industry and has managed $1 billion worth of
Beatrice Foods’ business. He pioneered the introduction of
Dannon frozen yogurt to consumers...
“The creditors agreed to relinquish their claims on the
company in return for 12 percent of Tomsun’s new stock.
HISTORY OF SOY YOGURT & CULTURED SOYMILK 293
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Another eight percent of the new stock will be distributed
to existing stockholders. Holmes will get the remaining 80
percent... Some 445,000 shares of the company’s stock had
been issued at $10 each in December 1986. Trading of the
stock had been suspended last spring.”
Production of Jofu will now take place in Hardwick,
Vermont. Tomsun’s other food products will be made in New
York. Address: Staff reporter.
810. Sundstrom, Jill. 1989. Soybeans part of nutritional shift.
Plain Talk (Vermillion, South Dakota). Feb. 16.
• Summary: Ray Schulz of rural Vermillion is a farmer
interested in promoting his crops–one of which is soybeans.
Ray is chairman of the South Dakota Soybean Research and
Promotion Council. He notes that the use of soybeans “in
food products is nothing new. Soybeans have been used in
making salad dressing and mayonnaise... Tofu is a cheesetype
food made from soybean milk. Jofu, which also contains
soymilk, is a relatively new yogurt-like dessert.”
811. Goldstein, Eddie. 1989. Dairene, Pureblend, and
non-dairy products (Interview). SoyaScan Notes. Feb. 27.
Conducted by William Shurtleff of Soyfoods Center.
• Summary: Eddie, now age 63, comes from California. In
the late 1940s he was making a product in Chicago and St.
Louis called Sta-Wip. It was sold to bakeries for blending
with whipped cream in cake and pie toppings. He knew Bob
Rich and Mel Morris in California when they entered the
fi eld.
His company Dairene started making soymilk in 1966
in Miami, Florida. Called Dairene: Imitation Vitamin D
Milk, it sold for about 60-70% the price of cow’s milk.
Pureblend was the stabilizer in Dairene. Pureblend was
shipped to plants, which used it to make Dairene. His
soymilk has no soy or beany fl avor or aroma. It tastes the
same as cow’s milk. He believed that in the future there
would be a tremendous shortage of milk. The U.S. has been
importing milk since 1972. At the same time he launched
the products Dairene TAC (Top-a-Cake), Dairene Sour
Cream (widely used for years by Howard Johnson in their
cheesecakes), and Dairene Coffee Cream (sold for $0.32/
qt vs. $0.80 for the dairy-based product). In 1968 he added
Dairene Cream Cheese, and in 1972 Dairene Ice Cream.
They used to “smear” the labels to pass labeling laws. The
products were initially sold only to the institutional market,
to approximately 8,000 hotels, bakeries, restaurants, coffee
shops, cruise ships, etc. They were promoted primarily on
the basis of their low price. He was not after the kosher
market, and in fact some of his products were not kosher
because of the high fees required by rabbis for certifi cation.
Dairene was never bothered as long as its products were
only sold to institutions. But when they decided to go after
the retail market in the early 1970s? they ran into a host of
problems from the dairy industry.