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