Concerns Over "Soy Slump" Negated By Suppliers

Recent predictions that soy is on its way out have many food distributors confused. Is soy losing its popularity? According to Mintel soy's popularity dropped over 13% in 2008-2010, and may fall farther.

But according to Solae's article on the future of soy, a soy ingredients giant, these numbers are misleading.

It's true that popularity for soy drinks and soy baby foods have declined, blamed in part on the growing popularity of other milk alternatives. Rice milk, oat milk, hemp milk, and now coconut milk have appeared in the market and for a variety of reasons some soy milk drinkers may have been swayed.

However, isolated soy protein sales are actually up...way up. Solae reports that sales for products featuring isolated soy protein have gone up a whopping 170% from 2007 to 2010.

Why the big jump? For some people, soy protein is a useful meat protein alternative; it's particularly useful in the sports nutrition and weight management fields, too. Many consumers interested in weight loss, weight maintenance, and other health issues such as high cholesterol are big fans of soy protein.

And for those who cannot consume dairy-based protein powders hydrolyzed soy protein is a close alternative.

So for food manufacturers and distributors worried about the popularity of their soy products, isolated soy protein, soy flours, and other soy products are here to stay. Health conscious consumers are still eating it up.