What Happened to WholeSoy Yogurt? A Conversation with Founder Dr. Ted Nordquist
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- Опубліковано 12 тра 2024
- Today I'm talking to Dr. Ted Nordquist, the founder of one of the most beloved vegan yogurt brands of all time, WholeSoy & Co. Ted shares the history of what led to him being interested in soy products in the first place, launching the first tofu and soymilk plants in Sweden, developing Silk Soymilk in the US, and launching WholeSoy & Co yogurt. He details the rise of WholeSoy as well as the challenges they faced and the ultimate decision to close down. Ted also details his experience helping launch Forager and LAVA yogurts as well as helping out at Miyoko's.
Intro 00:00
Interview begins 02:47
How did Ted discover soy? 04:15
Starting Sweden’s first tofu factory 10:00
Developing Sweden’s first soy milk base 12:48
Launching Tofuline Glass, Sweden’s first non-dairy ice cream 14:40
Developing Silk Soy Milk 19:34
Launching Whole Soy & Co Yogurt 24:54
Trouble at Whole Soy & Co 31:54
Closing down Whole Soy & Co 34:26
Creating Forager cashew yogurt 35:44
Launching LAVA yogurt 36:46
Working for Miyoko’s 39:41
Working for Homeless Action Sonoma 40:03
What made Whole Soy & Co so special? 41:46
Will Whole Soy & Co come back? 44:32
Why has soy gone out of favor? 45:47
Ted’s current favorite store bought yogurt 53:45
Ted’s future in the plant-based market 55:18
Homeless Action Sonoma 57:19
Thanking Ted 59:30
Outro 1:00:05 - Розваги
I’m going live with Vegan of Course this Sunday April 21 at 4pm EST! We will be co-streaming meaning you can watch either on my channel or his! I'll be posting the link on my community tab as soon as he creates the stream! Hope you see you there 💖
Great interview, and great job finding Dr. N. It's time to make soy great again.
Ah, the vegan Wayback Machine project! I'm so glad you're following through with this going forward, because it will be enlightening to us as consumers, and to anyone planning a vegan product startup. As for this interview--an easy one for you!--it was soooooo interesting. "Hey, Ted, why don't you start a tofu factory?" is the sort of thing that begins an engrossing novel, or a fantastic life story, and Dr. Nordquist's was just that. So many happy coincidences and fortuitous meetings in this man's decades of nteractions with others. Fascinating and inspiring. I'm so glad I can still get soy products here in Michigan [thanks, Henry Ford!], and think the decline of soy is temporary. Thanks so much for posting this, Marielle 🙂
Yessss, Tamara; you were the one I was riffing with on this idea! Ted's the only founder I've been able to get so far but what a great one to get!! I'm glad you found him as interesting as I did, and I definitely had that same though that his story could be a novel or movie. I also feel like it's so unique because things wouldn't unfold in the same way these days; it's like a vegan fairytale from a bygone era! I hope you're right that the decline of soy is temporary 🤞🏻 PS does Henry Ford have something to do with soy?!
@@TotallyForkable Re: Henry Ford: Yes, he was rather obsessed with soy. Farm boy from west of Detroit, you know. He famously held a dinner where every course was made from soybeans, or a derivative, and he also ordered Ford Motor Co. to create a soybean research facility to innovate industrial applications for soy, like composite plastic material. If you Google "Henry Ford soybeans," it's a wild ride!
What a fascinating life story! And you're right, Marielle, your subs do/will love this interview. 👏
Yes I feel like I learned some important chapters of vegan history! 📚
Wonderful interview with an inspiring guest! Thank you!
I feel like Ted could have talked for hours! Super interesting. I think the most interesting thing about the interview was what Ted said (and didn’t say) about the potential future for Miyokos!
I never heard of WholeSoy in Canada, but it sounds delicious! Most yoghurt products here are coconut-based unfortunately.
Yes! I mention this to Ted later in the video, but it seems like all vegan yogurts now either 1. taste delicious (coconut and cashew yogurts) but have little to no protein, or 2. have protein (usually in the form of pea protein) and taste like shit. The big retailers who dropped WholeSoy really fumbled the bag, IMO, because I think if it were still around it would be the top vegan yogurt company.
Thank you for this video! I am still watching it, but had to say WholeSoy yogurt was the best, I actually still think about it sometimes, lol.
You're so welcome!! I do, too--a good quality high protein vegan yogurt is something I'm really missing!
I'm also sad that soy has been given short shrift here in America. None of the alternatives are appealing to me, mainly because (as you talked about) you either get the protein and wacky flavor/texture or you get the right texture and flavor but no protein.
I also somewhat feel indebted to soy, as a student I was forced to take a meal plan and often the only way I was getting an adequate amount of protein in my diet was by the boxes of Silk they had meant for putting in coffee. I would drink like two glasses a meal just to get by. Sometimes I'd get lucky and there would be cold beans meant for putting in salads.
Wow! What a fascinating story! Great job! ❤
Thank you Kerri! So glad you enjoyed it 💖
I cannot find unsweetened soy yogurts in the stores.
Hold up, I've been getting pea protein powder and pea protein meats regularly... That's bad??? 😵💫
Probably not compared to most alternatives! Pea protein has a pretty solid amino acid profile if I'm remembering that right?
@@agld3543 that's what I thought too!! It's just when he boldly said pea protein "isn't healthy" I was concerned!
First! :)
🎉🎊
Geee what could possibly go wrong with an Estrogen .. drink ??