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

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ook tells the story <strong>of</strong> that experiment (up to the early 1980s)<br />

in 66 short chapters, told by many different community<br />

members. Its a magnifi cent, moving story, told in an “energybased”<br />

language invented by The Farm but easily understood<br />

by all. Some members recount more than one chapter. Note:<br />

This book could be greatly improved by an index. Address:<br />

P.O. Box 99, Summertown, Tennessee 38483. Phone: 1-888-<br />

260-8458.<br />

1169. White Wave, Inc. 1999. Soyfood recipes for<br />

the American table: Favorite dishes from the folks at<br />

White Wave–America’s <strong>soy</strong>food company since 1977.<br />

Summertown, Tennessee: The Book Publishing Co. 96 p.<br />

Illust. with full-page color photos. Index by product. General<br />

index. 23 cm. [13 ref]<br />

• Summary: Contents: About White Wave: Brief company<br />

<strong>history</strong> (“Entrepreneur Steve Demos founded White Wave,<br />

Inc., in 1977...”), healthy soil means healthy food (White<br />

Wave has supported organic farming practices for over<br />

20 years). About <strong>soy</strong>. About White Wave products: T<strong>of</strong>u,<br />

tempeh, Silk <strong>soy</strong><strong>milk</strong>, Silk dairyless <strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong>, Soy A Melt<br />

(cheese alternative), Seitan. Breakfast. Appetizers. Soups.<br />

Salads. Main dishes. Desserts.<br />

A very disappointing, overly commercial “quickie” book<br />

with two main problems. (1) Every recipe calls for the use <strong>of</strong><br />

“White Wave” <strong>soy</strong> products. (2) Many <strong>of</strong> the recipes in this<br />

book are taken from <strong>other</strong> 11 <strong>other</strong> books published by The<br />

Book Publishing Company–but we are not told which recipes<br />

are copies <strong>and</strong> which are original, or (on each page) where a<br />

particular copy came from. The color photos are attractive.<br />

This book would be fi ne if it were given away by White<br />

Wave to promote its products. Address: Boulder, Colorado.<br />

1170. Demos, Steve. 1999. The market for non-dairy <strong>yogurt</strong>s<br />

<strong>and</strong> puddings in the United States (Interview). SoyaScan<br />

Notes. Feb. 24. Conducted by William Shurtleff <strong>of</strong> Soyfoods<br />

<strong>Center</strong>.<br />

• Summary: White Wave’s <strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong> used to be named<br />

“White Wave Dairyless.” But in March 1998 the company<br />

reintroduced <strong>and</strong> repositioned the product as “Silk: Dairyless<br />

Soy”–still as a spoonable dessert. It had been reformulated,<br />

<strong>and</strong> a tamper-free sealed lid was added. Steve estimates<br />

that the U.S. market for non-dairy <strong>yogurt</strong>s is about $3-$4<br />

million wholesale or $6-$8 million at retail. It is defi nitely<br />

growing at a very healthy rate–more than 30% a year. Silk<br />

has about 80% <strong>of</strong> that market–based on adjusted SPINS data.<br />

SPINS gives a somewhat distorted view <strong>of</strong> reality because<br />

it includes only selected distributors (<strong>and</strong> omits many <strong>of</strong> the<br />

biggest distributors such as Tree <strong>of</strong> Life, Stow Mills, etc.),<br />

<strong>and</strong> selected natural food stores–from which the information<br />

is extrapolated. Today there is only one major competitor<br />

(Nancy’s <strong>of</strong> Oregon), <strong>and</strong> one small competitor (he forgets<br />

the name) that sells mostly in the Boston <strong>and</strong> New Engl<strong>and</strong><br />

markets. Soy <strong>yogurt</strong> is a big, important product for White<br />

HISTORY OF SOY YOGURT & CULTURED SOYMILK 449<br />

© Copyright Soyinfo <strong>Center</strong> 2012<br />

Wave, which sells 100,000 units or more <strong>of</strong> Silk <strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong><br />

per week. The company sells more units <strong>of</strong> t<strong>of</strong>u, but the t<strong>of</strong>u<br />

generates less pr<strong>of</strong>i t per unit <strong>and</strong> requires a huge investment<br />

in money <strong>and</strong> factory space. Yet the company’s fl agship<br />

product is Silk Soy<strong>milk</strong>–which is number one in both units<br />

sold <strong>and</strong> revenues earned. “Silk is our gr<strong>and</strong> slam.”<br />

Ted Nordquist is expected to introduce a new <strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong><br />

at the Anaheim show next month under the WholeSoy br<strong>and</strong>.<br />

Steve thinks it is being made at Brown Cow in Petaluma,<br />

California.<br />

Jonathan Gordon reformulated White Wave’s <strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong><br />

shortly before he left–<strong>and</strong> he did a good job except for the<br />

stabilization. When you make <strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong> that is set in the<br />

cup, then you stir with a spoon, it doesn’t fracture smoothly<br />

like dairy <strong>yogurt</strong>. Woody Yeh’s SoyaLatté, for example, was<br />

an excellent product, but it didn’t look that good when you<br />

ate it. Making a good <strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong> is very diffi cult; there are<br />

many small tricks. Soy <strong>yogurt</strong>s are almost always pre-mixed,<br />

what is called European-style. You fi rst make the <strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong>,<br />

then put it into huge blenders which effectively homogenizes<br />

the consistency, causing a loss <strong>of</strong> body in the product. So you<br />

must reconstitute the body. After Jonathan left, White Wave<br />

hired an outside fi rm to help reestablish the stabilization<br />

system. Now White Wave has a “nice, fl uffy, reconstituted<br />

<strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong> structure again.”<br />

White Wave has two sizes (SKUs) <strong>of</strong> plain (unfl avored)<br />

<strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong>: a quart <strong>and</strong> a 6-ounce cup. The quart sells<br />

phenomenally well. It provides strong support to the premise<br />

that fl avored <strong>yogurt</strong>s ultimately bring many people to plain.<br />

About 15-20% <strong>of</strong> all White Wave’s <strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong> (by volume)<br />

is sold unfl avored–even though it is the same price as the<br />

fl avored products, <strong>and</strong> it is premixed just like the fl avored<br />

products. Many people like to use the plain quart in home<br />

cooking. They may sweeten it with maple syrup, etc. Every<br />

week, the plain sells as well as the most popular fl avor<br />

A close relative <strong>of</strong> <strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong> is <strong>soy</strong> pudding (or <strong>soy</strong><br />

custard). Both are basically spoonable desserts, but the<br />

pudding is not acidifi ed, <strong>and</strong> therefore probably has to be<br />

sold in an aseptic package. Steve believes the <strong>soy</strong> pudding<br />

market is “about to explode” <strong>and</strong> this category will upstage<br />

<strong>soy</strong> <strong>yogurt</strong>s in the future. Steve would bet that at least<br />

three new <strong>soy</strong> puddings (aseptically packaged) will be<br />

introduced within 60 days. Steuben Foods is coming out<br />

with one–probably in chocolate <strong>and</strong> vanilla fl avors–probably<br />

at Anaheim in March. Jonathan Gordon would love to<br />

develop one but he has signed a non-compete agreement.<br />

The pudding is basically a co-packed product; nobody would<br />

put an aseptic system just for that–at least at the beginning.<br />

Finding low-acid aseptic packers is easy. White Wave is<br />

very focused on developing a Silk <strong>soy</strong> pudding that will be<br />

aseptically packaged but sold refrigerated–next to the <strong>other</strong><br />

Silk products. “This product will be huge! It could be the<br />

biggest <strong>soy</strong> product–after you get acceptance <strong>of</strong> the word<br />

‘<strong>soy</strong>.’ But it will be a long time before its sales could pass

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