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

Brochure in French (8.25 by 6 inches, color). 1990.
Soya Yofu, pour rester sur le bon chemin (Soya Yofu, to stay
on the right path). The front panel shows a a photo, taken
from the back, of a young lady, seated in yoga position,
looking out of a an open door between a wall of shoji
screens with an ikebana fl ower arrangement nearby, over a
pastoral European countryside. In the lower right are cups of
3 fl avors of Soya Yofu. Under them is written: “Provamel,
the natural alternative.” The caption for the inside twopage
spread is “Soya Yofu from Provamel, the vegetarian
delicacy” (le delice vegetal). Sub-captions: Soya is good for
you. Provamel Soya Yofu, the other yogurt made from soya.
Provamel, always healthy and savory (sain et savoureux).
One table shows the nutritional composition of the three
products; another table compares its cholesterol and lactose
levels with those of dairy yogurt. A photo shows a spoon in a
cup of the product next top a bowl of breakfast muesli and a
biscuit.
The back panel states: “A complete line: Provamel
soya drinks, Provamel Soya Desserts.” Photos show three
products.
Distributed in Belgium by Reform Merchandises
S.A., Fotografi elaan 44, 2610 Wilrijk. Distributed in the
Netherlands by Van Den Boogaard B.V., Postbus 53, 5408
ZH Volkel. Note: The name Alpro does not appear anywhere
on this leafl et.
Talk with Philippe Vandemoortele. 1990. June 4.
Provamel Soya Yofu is still in test market and sales are so-so.
Spot in SoyaFoods (ASA, Europe). 1991. 2(2):8. “Soya
Yofu.” “Alpro has extended its range of soya products
by introducing Yofu, which is made from fermented
soyamilk.” Yofu contains no cholesterol, lactose, colors,
or preservatives. “Yofu is available in 3 varieties–natural,
strawberry and tropical.”
845. Product Name: Ambrosia: Soy Yogurt [Plain,
Blueberry, Raspberry, Strawberry].
Manufacturer’s Name: Ambrosia Soy Co.
Manufacturer’s Address: 199 Saltonstall Parkway, East
Haven, CT 06512. Phone: 203-467-8821.
Date of Introduction: 1989. October.
Ingredients: Incl. soymilk, spray-dried tofu, fruits,
stabilizer.
New Product–Documentation: Talk with Liz Appel. 1989.
Nov. 9. This product was introduced 1 month ago. The name
is now Ambrosia, with “Soy Yogurt” as a subtitle in smaller
letters. But she may have to change the name because there
is a company in the area named Ambrosia Yogurt that makes
soft-serve frozen yogurt. The product is extremely popular,
they can’t keep up with demand. Sales have doubled in
several weeks. Present fl avors are plain, blueberry, raspberry,
and strawberry; they will probably introduce an apricotmango
in 1-2 months. It is a kosher cultured soymilk, but is
not Pareve. There really is no such thing as a Pareve culture,
HISTORY OF SOY YOGURT & CULTURED SOYMILK 310
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despite what Cream of the Bean says. To prepare: Put fruit
on the bottom of the cup, run in the soymilk-yogurt mixture,
seal, incubate until set. They plan to use a stabilizer since
they do not add any soy [milk] powder. In July she was fl own
to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by Aurotech, a culture company
in nearby Menomonee Falls that owned half of Cream of the
Bean. They wined and dined her, put her up in a hotel, made
yogurt for her, wanted her to make soy yogurt with them
and they wanted ownership in return for their expertise, but
after a lot of investigation, she feels they do not have the
expertise they claim to because their product itself was never
very good. They kept going over the numbers, and wanted to
put in the product she disagreed with. So she decided not to
work with them. Their game is to look for little companies
that need capital or expertise, and offer to show them how
to make a good product in exchange for part ownership.
The soy yogurt is a very hard product to make, but they are
getting better. She does not see her product as competing
with Jofu, which is a non-cultured product with added tofu
powder. Hers is marketed as a lactose-free yogurt, and most
people don’t realize that Jofu is a non-dairy yogurt. She
prefers to sell to health food stores rather than supermarkets.
She has been in Waldbaum’s Foodmart, a major supermarket
chain, since Feb. 1989 and its tough, with much lower
profi ts. Her aim for the company is to be a full-fl edged soy
dairy, with 5-6 trucks, and making sour cream, non-dairy
creamer, etc. “When people think of soy, they think of us.
We’ll have a whole new look and set of labels in several
months.” She is now looking for capital to get a new facility.
She has been in touch with Woody Yeh.
Talk with Richard McKelvey, who formerly worked
with Tomsun and Jofu. 1990. Dec. 11. “Ambrosia Soy is
terrible. Its really a very low grade product. It doesn’t even
touch what Jofu offered.”
846. Demos, Steve. 1989. White Wave’s strategy for
marketing soyfoods in America as cholesterol-free protein
foods (Interview). SoyaScan Notes. Nov. 1. Conducted by
William Shurtleff of Soyfoods Center.
• Summary: “White Wave welcomes the movement of tofu,
a potentially hazardous food, out of the produce case. I think
were are positioned and prepared as well as we possibly
could be for this kind of change. This is what we’ve been
waiting for! Years ago, White Wave designed its boxed,
vacuum-packed tofu with a 60 day shelf life to sell in the
dairy case. The disruption of an existing habit pattern opens
up to opportunities for innovative companies.” Demos does
not see, even in the short term, any major loss of sales. At
least 2/3 of White Wave’s tofu is already out of the produce
case and into either the dairy case or temperature controlled
cases. He feels the best place to sell tofu is next to yogurt,
ideally between yogurt and the deli meats in the dairy/
deli case. White Wave conceives of itself as selling a new
category of foods, “cholesterol free protein foods.” This