USSEC India Conducts Soymilk Trial Using U.S. Food Speciality Soybeans

USSEC India recently conducted a comparative study on soymilk production, using U.S. food speciality beans and Indian soybeans.
Produced on small, medium and large scales, soymilk and tofu are the fastest growing soy food industries in India. Although India is the fifth largest producer of the soybeans in the world, there are no food specialty beans produced in the country.
USSEC recently identified this opportunity for U.S. food speciality soybeans for the production of soymilk and tofu in India. USSEC India Soy Food Director Dr. Ratan Sharma coordinated with U.S. suppliers to secure a supply of sample soybeans from the U.S. and conducted the soymilk trial using those beans in India.
The trials were executed at a soymilk production facility, proffered by the SoyaCow manufacturer, equipped with a few soymilk processing units. One lipoxisinase (lipo) free and two varieties of low lipo soybeans were used for this trial. All together, three U.S. varieties and one reference sample from India were used for this comparative study. The evaluation was done in terms of the total solid, protein, fat, carbohydrates, sugar and energy as well as the organoleptic attributes. The chemical analysis and the organoleptic tests were carried out by SGS, a leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. The organoleptic tests were also done at the soymilk trial facility by experienced volunteers. Soymilk made using U.S. beans was found to be the best in terms of the total solid recovery and the organoleptic attributes in comparison to its Indian counterpart.
One of the largest soymilk and tofu manufacturing companies in India also participated in the trial with a major third party contribution for conducting this trial. They were very encouraged by the results and are now planning to order U.S. beans for the commercial shipment to conduct a large scale trial before placing the order for their regular commercial production requirements. Besides its own uses, this company also plans to sell U.S. beans to the Indian soymilk, tofu manufacturers and other whole bean users for various food applications. To create a large size market for the U.S. food beans, USSEC will work to expedite business opportunities with other traders who are involved in the whole bean supply for food uses in India.
Because soymilk and tofu are becoming popular soy products in India and throughout the entire Asian subcontinent, USSEC sees this as a potential opportunity for U.S. food specialty beans. Dr. Sharma says these beans are extremely good for other whole bean applications as well, including the production of soy nuts, although that needs to be further explored by conducting other product-specific trials.
USSEC foresees this opportunity as a way to get a steady flow of U.S. beans moving into India and then it can expand from there for other purposes. Dr. Sharma is working on the cost benefit analysis and other modalities to popularize U.S. food specialty soybeans in India to facilitating their import to India from the United States.
There are more than 1,000 soymilk and tofu manufacturers in India. USSEC’s efforts to promote the U.S. food specialty soybeans will attract a substantial volume of food beans in this region.

Soymilk trial preparations
Soymilk trial preparations
SGS collects soymilk samples for analysis
SGS collects soymilk samples for analysis