It’s no longer a question of whether the soyfood will grow, but which products will grow fastest
The news on two fronts is very good. Canadian food-grade soybeans have earned a solid reputation in export markets for quality and traceability. Plus, the health benefits of soybeans are getting clearer and clearer, with more than 10,000 scientific articles now published globally citing soy’s inherently healthy low-fat protein, fatty acids, fibre content and antioxidants as evidence that soybeans are a wise dietary choice not only for weight and diabetes management, but also for preventing chronic diseases.
Across North America over the past 20 years, there’s been a remarkable repositioning of the soyfoods category. It has shifted from a narrow range of traditional soyfoods found primarily in health and ethnic food shops to a wide array of flavourful, convenient soy products available in mainstream grocery stores everywhere.
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The fact that soy products are still holding their own and that they are making some gains has many experts believing that the category will continue to grow.
In the 13 years between 1996 and 2009, U.S. sales of soyfoods grew from $1 billion to $4.5 billion. This growth was propelled by the USDA’s approval in the late ’90s of a labelling claim for the health benefits of soy protein.
The cross-border effect also boosted Canadian sales along with our product offerings and distribution, driving the category from $150 million to over $350 million with 70 per cent of sales being through major grocery outlets.
The rate of growth has slowed in the past three years however, with a softening of sales for soy beverages and tofu. Recent gains have been in the form of a modest rise in sales of soy-based energy bars and meat alternative products.
A 2009 Angus Reid poll showed that when Canadians choose soyfoods, the main reason is because they see soy as part of a healthy diet. In the U.S., 2010 United Soybean Board research shows that 80 per cent of consumers think soy is heart healthy. They most often associate certain health benefits with soy. In addition to being heart healthy, they see soybeans as low in fat, a source of protein, good for you, and cholesterol lowering.
Canadian industry leaders are closely tracking the trends, and they are working to identify emerging opportunities that could give the soyfoods category another big sales boost. The opportunities, they believe, centre on the themes of wellness, product development, ethno-cultural influences and traceability.
If the Canadian soyfoods industry positions itself well, what could the future hold?
Unmanageable health-care costs are forcing governments at all levels to shift from a conversation about “health care” to “health.” Prevention and control of chronic diseases rooted in obesity and use of tobacco and alcohol are the new major focus.
A December 2011 report by Ontario’s chief medical officer of health makes a strong case for putting resources toward wellness and health prevention, emphasizing that “healthy eating, regular exercise and eliminating tobacco would prevent up to 90 per cent of Type 2 diabetes cases and 80 per cent of coronary heart disease.”
AcNow BC is a provincial cross-government health promotion initiative that aims to boost population wellness by supporting schools, employers, local governments and communities to develop and promote programs that will help B.C. citizens achieve some very specific goals, such as “reduce the percentage of B.C. adults who are overweight or obese by 20 per cent.”
The current version of Canada’s Food Guide, released in 2007, includes increased and distinct references to soy. The Milk and Alternatives food group includes fortified soy beverage. Soybean oil is recommended as a healthy unsaturated fat. Tofu is depicted in the cover graphics, and the Meat and Alternatives section recommends. “Have meat alternatives such as beans, lentils and tofu often.”
With a belief that the market for soy protein is underdeveloped in Canada, and that government support of healthy eating activities is on the rise, Soy 20/20, a Guelph-based soy industry market development body, is leading an industry quest for a Canadian soy-labelling claim. They are working with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and industry partners to champion the claim. Some 10 other countries, including the U.S., already have a soy food label claim.
In December 2011, after an extensive scientific literature review process, the label claim was filed with Health Canada, according to Jeff Schmalz, Soy 20/20 president. “We expect next steps in the process to take at least a year — probably longer,” says Schmalz, adding, “We predict that such a label claim could boost Canadian soyfoods sales by about 25 per cent.”
The proposed claim would allow Canadian soy food and beverage products to carry specific wording about the relationship between soy consumption and lowering blood cholesterol.
“Such a health claim would certainly give a boost to sales, but it’s hard to say which segment of the soy food and beverage market it would help most,” observes Peter Joe, president of Vancouver-based Sunrise Soya Foods. “It will depend on the marketing and public relations spend of the individual companies. If such a claim is allowed, it will be interesting to see what effect new tools like social media will have in driving sales through marketing messages about the goodness of soy.”
With manufacturing plants in both Vancouver and Toronto, Sunrise is the leading tofu manufacturer in the country. In the past couple of years, they have introduced individual serving tofu-based desserts and ethnic flavour-inspired ready-to-heat tofu and sauce products.
Joe says the desserts are doing well due to their uniqueness, and that marketing the heat-and-serve product line requires consumer education.
Looking ahead, Joe says manufacturers will have to be on their toes when it comes to new soyfood product development.
“It’s an area that companies have always been working on, but it’s increasingly difficult to develop truly new products,” Joe says. He cites increased competition — that fact that there are a lot more “good-for-you” foods out there now than there were a decade ago — as well as the ever-mounting challenge of dealing with retailers — as part of doing business for branded product manufacturers.
With a voice of experience, Joe says, “Any new product takes a lot of marketing dollars.”
The Washington-based Soyfoods Association of North America states that having a wide variety of soyfoods on the market will help consumers meet the 2005 U.S. federal Dietary Guidelines that call for eating foods like soy that are high in fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, key vitamins and minerals and lower in saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories.
Gary Fread agrees. The Toronto-area food-marketing consultant, former CEO of the Guelph Food Technology Centre and chair of the Soy 20/20 board says, “Traditional growth areas for soyfoods have levelled off. Whether they take off again will depend on how innovative we get with tweaking those products.”
Fread sees two areas for growth — the general area of healthier-for-you products, and growing demand for ethnic foods. “All the developed countries are going the route of the global menu, and Canada especially so, with its multi-cultural and ethnic diversity.”
Fread points to the blend of different food types that are now in typical Canadian meals, as well as the fusion of flavours and food cultures being expressed in new products such as edamame-based hummus. “Ten to 15 per cent of consumers are looking for specialty, upscale, artisanal foods, so we need to be looking at that niche as well.”
So what does all of this mean to growers? Mark Huston and Kevin Marriott, both board members with the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), have a special interest in soy industry market development activities.
Huston, the GFO representative on the Soy 20/20 board, says growers would like to see a specialty soy crush facility established “to better connect the end products to the beans that we grow here, and to utilize fully traceable soy protein and oils in new ways.”
“With the IP system in Ontario, we can grow more IP beans more consistently than anywhere in the world,” notes Huston. What has driven development of the IP system, he says, is the fact that “export markets are still vitally important to the industry, with 40 to 45 per cent of what we grow going to export markets in the form of non-GMO, white hylum, larger beans.”
Marriott believes the industry should continue to provide accurate, up-to-date nutrition and product information about soy to consumers, and also work with Health Canada to facilitate development of the label claim. “When I go into a grocery store and see the soyfoods section, I’m reminded of how far the industry has come,” says Marriott. “Twenty-five years ago there were barely any soy products in the store, and now all the major chains have a significant soy section.” He also sees the emergence of soy items on Canadian food-service menus as a “bit of a win.”
Marriott sees future developments for soy developing “one step at a time.”
“Whether it’s tofu, beverages, shakes, protein bars or fresh edamame, soyfoods can serve a wide range of products and tastes,” Marriott says. It’s a positive sign, he says, that soyfood products in Canada are gaining market share, and that new product development is attracting high-level attention from aggressively managed companies. CG
