Pepsi, Bestfoods To Market Soymilk

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Pepsi, Bestfoods To Market Soymilk

By PHILIP BRASHER, AP Farm Writer

http://dailynews./h/ap/20000509/bs/hot_soy_1.html

 

 

CHICAGO (AP) - Coming soon to theaters: A cold soymilk-and-fruit drink to wash

down that hot, buttered popcorn. The drink is a product of PepsiCo Inc.'s

Tropicana, one of several big food and beverage companies trying to get in on

the growing market for soy.

 

Bestfoods, known for such brands as Skippy, Karo, Mazola and Hellmann's, is

using the supermarket industry's trade show this week to introduce a new

soymilk for the U.S. market.

 

Other companies that have jumped into the soy business, either through joint

ventures or acquisitions, include Kellogg Co., Kraft Foods Inc., H.J. Heinz Co.

and the nation's two biggest dairy processors, Dean Foods Co. and Suiza Foods

Corp.

 

Soy beverage sales in mainstream supermarkets reached $126 million for the year

ended in February, a 60 percent increase, according to data compiled by tracking

firms SPINS and A.C. Nielsen. That's still a fraction of the $22 billion worth

of soda and milk that Americans buy annually, but analysts expect the soy

market to continue growing, in part because the Food and Drug Administration is

allowing soy products to bear a claim that soy protein lowers blood cholesterol

levels.

 

``Right now soy is the miracle ingredient,'' said Lynn Dornblaser, editorial

director of New Product News.

 

Dairy producers are worried enough about soy's potential that they petitioned

the FDA earlier this year to bar soy beverages from being called ``milk.''

 

Tropicana's drink - an icy smoothie made with juice, fruit puree, soymilk and

soy protein - is a joint venture with a small Florida firm, Galaxy Foods Co.,

that's been making vegetarian cheese since the 1960s. In addition to Regal

theaters in Florida, the drink also is going to be tested in selected

restaurants and Kroger supermarkets.

 

``I think it's a great alternative to the sodas,'' said Nora Julian of

Carpinteria, Calif., after sampling an orange smoothie at the trade show

Tuesday. ``The only drawback is that it's so cold.''

 

Bestfoods has been selling soymilk in Latin America for the past 10 years but

waited until this spring to introduce the product in the United States. Known as

NutraBlend, the U.S. version will be less sweet than the Latin American product.

 

To qualify for the health claim that FDA approved last fall, soy products must

contain at least 6.25 grams of soy protein per serving, one-fourth of the 25

grams daily that studies have shown is needed to show a significant

cholesterol-lowering effect. An ounce is a little more than 25 grams.

 

A glass of soymilk contains about 6.5 grams per serving. A soy burger patty

typically has about 10 grams. A 12-ounce Tropicana smoothie will have 8 grams.

 

Kellogg and Kraft are both marketing veggie burgers: Kellogg, through its

acquisition last year of Worthington Foods, the biggest maker of soy-based meat

alternatives, and Kraft, through its purchase in February of Boca Burger.

Kellogg also has introduced a soy cereal.

 

Dean Foods took a minority stake last year in Boulder, Colo.-based White Wave

Inc., a vegetarian food company that makes Silk, a refrigerated soymilk. With

Dean's backing, Silk is now sold in nearly 14,000 stores nationwide, compared to

100 in 1998. Suiza Foods introduced its own rival product in January.

 

``It's not a fad. You're going to see yogurts and a lot of other soy products

out there,'' said Tom Murin, a Suiza official.

 

 

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