2003 Fall Natural/Organic Handbook: The Soy Revolution

These days, the meat-and-potatoes tradition of the American table is being challenged on all fronts. In an effort to confront all sorts of rising health concerns, including obesity and high cholesterol, many people are turning to alternative food choices that were all but unheard of a decade ago, at least outside of the health food business.

The proliferation of soy-based foods has been at the forefront of this revolution, especially among serious or part-time vegetarians. Soy products have for some time been staples of the natural foods industry, with new products hitting the shelves at a rapid pace and slowly becoming a fixture in the specialty food sector as well.

As anyone who has been to a Natural Products Expo can attest to, these products have grown beyond the ubiquitous soymilk and tofu to include everything from snack foods and breakfast cereals to frozen entrees and desserts. Barely is there a section of the food aisles that has not been touched by the soy phenomenon; soy products have even supplanted animal protein in the deli and cheese cases. Mon Dieu!

As with most things food related, however, the public has been getting mixed, or at best confusing messages regarding soy products and retailers seem divided on how important it is to their business, with some waving the soy flag in earnest and others shying away in favor of more traditional foods. We've examined the soy conundrum, and hopefully sorted through some of the information out there. The category appears to be here to stay and the sooner retailers get up to speed on the facts of soy, the better off they will be.

A Brief History of Soy

The exact origins of cultivated soybeans are not documented but seem to go back as far as the 3rd millennium BC in China where they continue to constitute a staple food in the diet, especially in the form of tofu, the "cheese" of China, and of course, soy sauce. Soybeans are cultivated at least as much as wheat and rice throughout the world but actually have a much higher nutritional value in terms of protein and other nutrients. Soy has a very high protein level, as much as 35 percent, and it is far more complete than that of any other vegetable source. Such a characteristic proved invaluable in Asia where meat was at a premium and dairy products were practically nonexistent until modern times. Soybeans are also very high in oil content and the oil extracted from them is the most used one throughout the world.

Soy, or soya as our British cousins say, spread to other Asian nations early on, and Japan in particular took to it in a big way, raising the utilization of the bean to an art form as they did for so many of the foods they acquired from others. It was not until the 17th century that soy was taken to the West by Dutch traders, both in the form of seeds and soy sauce. The name itself comes from the Japanese sho-yu, from the Chinese shi-yu (shi = "salted beans" and yu = "oil"), and in a curious twist of transliteration, soybeans are named for the sauce, not the other way around. To further confuse the nomenclature, the British term soya is derived from the Dutch soja, from the Malay soi, presumably stemming from the same Japanese/Chinese etymology. Phew!

Soy and soy products, with the exception of soy sauce, were very slow to catch on in the West. It wasn't until the 19th century that Western scientists learned: a) how nutritious the little buggers are, and b) the technique for turning soybeans into a powder that could be used as a meat extender (this was very beneficial during World War II when it was used as a filler for sausages and other meat products), and ultimately, would be used for a great variety of other food applications based originally on economy.

Soybeans are an important cash crop in the U.S. today, and are used extensively as feed for livestock, for oil, and in a variety of processed foods. The nutritional aspects, especially as applied to vegetarians and for those who are lactose intolerant, won the interest of the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s when it became the darling of the health food business. Today, through cookbooks, television, countless nutrition gurus, and other sources, interest in the benefits of soy have spawned an industry that has definitely hit the mainstream in both supermarkets, as well as specialty food stores.

According to marketing research done by SPINS and Soyatech, Inc. in a report called Soyfoods: The U.S. Market 2003, sales of soy-based products have been growing at a rate of 14 percent per year for the past 10 years and is now a $3.6-billion industry in retail sales. They foresee that new areas of growth from energy bars to dairy and meat alternatives to snacks and cereals will continue to drive sales well beyond that mark. For this reason, along with others such as the not-so-gradual melding of the natural and the specialty markets, an increase in the number of people who claim to be vegetarians, and the general deterioration of our nation's collective health (and increase in our waistlines), soy products are worth looking at even for those who never expressed much interest in the subject.

To Your Health

It seems clear also that health issues are helping to drive the boom in soy products. The humble soybean does seem to be something of a wunderkind of the legume family and many studies have been done that indicate healthful benefits that address many of our most pressing health concerns, such as heart disease, cancer, menopause, osteoporosis, diabetes and kidney disease, and even allergies. As an alternative to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), soy products have proven to be very effective in reducing the negative symptoms of menopause without the side effects that many women say are sometimes worse than the menopause. Also, in the damned if you do, damned if you don't department, HRT has been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer, something that soy products do not.

Soy protein contains all eight essential amino acids, making it a complete protein, unlike almost all other vegetable proteins. In addition, it also contains omega-3 fatty acids, which can help protect against heart disease and other killers. Soy protein also contains the minerals calcium, iron, and zinc, and B-vitamins like thiamin, folate, and B-6. Soy protein has been proven to reduce levels of the bad cholesterol (low-density lipoproteins, or LDL) and triglycerides without altering the good cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins, or HDL). It contains antioxidants that have proven to help in the fight against cancer and the effects of aging.

Studies have shown that in Japan, where the consumption of soy products is traditionally very high and ingrained in the culture, they have some of the lowest rates of cancer and heart disease in the world. Japanese women seldom report the symptoms of peri-menopause, and post-menopausal women in Japan have lower rates of osteoporosis and heart disease, and they live longer. Men in China, also a big soy-consuming culture, have 20 times less diagnosed prostate cancer and cancer deaths than in the West. The studies go on and on. Of course, the good news is that most of these products actually taste good and are great for inclusion in cooking or mixing with other more traditional Western foods.

Soy Products on the Shelves

Soy vodka anyone? Don't laugh, it's one of the many products made from soy to hit the market in recent years. Exactly what, if any, nutritional advantage one can derive from mixing their Cosmopolitans with soy-based vodka we're not sure, but it is an indication that product research into this marvelous legume, as well as demand for new, interesting products continues unabated. The soy world's greatest successes have been in veggie burgers and soymilk. These happen to be the most accessible for most people, due to convenience and good taste.

Both provide perhaps the easiest ways to incorporate soy into the diet, as well as the obvious attractions to vegetarians and people with lactose intolerance. One of the next big boons to the soy industry is taking the form of low-carb diets in which products made from soy flour figure into nicely. Soy chips, cookies, pasta, cereals, bars, and so on have been proliferating in recent years anyway, and with the added interest in low-carbohydrate lifestyles -- either for weight loss or heart health -- accelerating the demand.

Curiously, some retailers are saying they have little or no demand for soy products, saying it was a fad that has come and gone.

"No one's asking for it except for the lactose intolerant," says Gerald Aiello, owner of Gerry's Market in Winchester, Mass.

At Rebecca's Natural Foods in Charlottesville, Va., grocery buyer Bill Calvani agrees, saying, "Soy peaked a few months ago and has begun to fall off. I think people are tuning it out because they have reached a saturation point. A good consumer article on soy would affect the trend."

One of the biggest proponents of soy products and an avid user himself is Paul Weiner, the natural foods buyer/manager for Fairway Market in New York City.
"To give you an idea," hints Weiner, "I sell soy chips and I go through about 2,000 bags a week. They are very hot right now because they are also low fat and they are very high in isoflavens."

Weiner devotes a lot of space to soy products, including soymilk, tofu, soy cheese and yogurt, cereals, chips, pasta ("appeals because it is both gluten-free and low-carb," he says), tortilla chips, protein powder, bars, and oils, as well as textured soy protein.
"The amazing thing," muses Weiner, "is that all of these products come out of a bean. They are easy to grow, and they fit into current notions of how much land it takes to produce our food. It is ultimately more economical to grow soybeans than grass for animals."

Manufacturers and researchers are scrambling to find new products and more importantly, to find ways to get people that have never had them before to try soy products. To that end, they are coming out with soy juice drinks, prepared meals that include barbecue steak tips, soy pork and beans, soy powders that are sprinkled on all sorts of foods, and even soy coffee substitute. All of these are aiming at specific concerns that consumers have like weight loss, vegetarianism, and caffeine alternatives. One of the misconceptions, however, is that soy products are inherently low fat or low calorie.

"One of the things I hear people say when they come into this [natural foods] section," says Weiner, "is that this is the food you eat to lose weight. No, this is where you can learn to eat properly I tell them. I won't lie to you -- soy is high in fat, but it is not saturated fat and that's a good thing. There is also the danger that soy is one of the products that is often genetically modified, which is why organic soy products are important."

Weiner writes a short soy newsletter called The Joy of Soy that is often included with the store's newsletter. In it, he points out several facts about soy that help his customers understand the range of products available, addresses health benefits, and generally outlines why they should eat soy products. He suggests that the main reason people pass on soy products is because they are unaware of the soybean's healthful attributes. Whenever the newsletter comes out, it is in conjunction with a sale on certain soy products, and there is usually something on sale at Fairway all the time.

Varying ideas exist on how to best merchandise soy products, whether to mix them in with other like-minded products or to segregate them off into a soy section. Perhaps the best method is to mix them in but to highlight them with signage and periodic specials and displays. On one hand, it's important that customers seeking snacks see that you have soy snacks as well and hopefully make the right choice, but on the other hand, you will have customers specifically looking for soy products who wish to see them together. Once again, the correct answer falls somewhere in the middle. Try placing your soy products in among their perspective categories, i.e., snacks, dairy, pasta, and so forth, but use detailed signage to note what they are and to point out other soy products in the store for those who are interested.

One thing the manufacturers agreed upon was that information and education are key to successfully merchandising soy products, and that active sampling is the best way to get the uninitiated to try them. This is especially important if you do not operate a natural foods store, or if your customers are not used to seeing these foods. The consumer media, as well as the soy industry are actively promoting and talking about this phenomenal category so if your customers aren't asking for them now, they will be. Learn as much as you can about the myriad soy products on the market, their health claims, and how to use these products in everyday meals. Make yourself soy savvy and be ahead of the curve when it comes to one of the fastest-growing categories in the market today.