WISHH News

US Soy Company Makes Inaugural Sale to Turkey
New Business Relationship Highlights Developing Country Interest in Soy Foods

The US Soy company set in motion a new international business relationship on January 23 when it loaded two shipping containers of high-quality food-grade raw soybeans at its Mattoon, Illinois headquarters. The containers are on their way to Turkish firm HIPRO Company in Istanbul, and the sale is an example of the strong interest in soy foods found in developing countries.

“This is a new market for us,” says US Soy Sales Manager Ed Zimmer.

HIPRO wanted the US product because of its high quality. The company intends to market the identity preserved soybeans to Turkish food industries, including retailers, tofu producers, vegetarian restaurants and others. In addition to expecting more sales of raw soybeans to Turkey, US Soy is also sending samples of its processed products, such soy flour, roasted soy nuts and soy milk powder. 

American Soybean Association (ASA) and World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) consultants helped introduce US Soy and its products to Turkish companies. They also assisted during the negotiations of the agreement. WISHH has presented soyfoods workshops at the annual ASA Regional Soybean Conference in Istanbul. This year, WISHH is planning a series of three one-day workshops, one each on soy flour, Textured Soy Protein (TSP) and soymilk. In successful trials with a Turkish regional government and food economist, WISHH has shown the suitability of soymilk blending with cow’s milk for yogurt and cheese production. Turkey has a shortage of cow’s milk so the soy addition is of great interest to food processors.

US Soy also recently sold a container of soybeans to Israel and is shipping another container by mid-March. Because of such global interest, the company is exhibiting its products in numerous trade shows with large international audiences.

“In developing countries, there is great potential for manufacturing a wide array of soy foods ranging from yogurts to soy flours for breads,” says ASA WISHH Program Director Jim Hershey. “Soy can bring more nutrition without changing the tastes or character of foods that are already well received in local foods.”

Most future growth in food demand will be in developing and middle-income countries. Almost all of the world’s projected increase of 1.2 billion people by 2020 will be in these countries, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture report: Food and Agricultural Policy Taking Stock for the New Century.  The report also finds that by 2006 middle-income classes of developing countries will have grown by 68% from mid-1990s levels and that increase is equal to the current combined populations of Japan and the European Union.

Because of growth opportunities like this and the value of soy in humanitarian efforts, U.S. soybean growers launched the WISHH program in 2000. It is supported by the United Soybean Board and the state soybean checkoff programs as well as the American Soybean Association.