Vitasoy USA and Nasoya Foods Open New Production Facility

Vitasoy USA and its subsidiary, Nasoya Foods, have opened a new 120,000-square-foot food-processing center in Ayer, MA. The facility will be the home of Nasoya Foods, which has relocated from its 30,000-square-foot processing plant in Leominster, MA, and will also house Vitasoy's soymilk production.

The new $145 million facility has the capacity to produce 25 million pounds of tofu, and more than 5 million gallons of soymilk annually.

This is the third time that Nasoya Foods has expanded production capacity in response to consumer demand. Vitasoy expects to add approximately 30 full-time positions in Ayer by the end of 1998, bringing the company's total number of employees nationwide to 280.

U.S. soymilk sales have been growing 10 to 15% a year since 1990, reaching $150 million in sales in 1996, according to Soyatech, a market research and publishing firm. The tofu market has been growing at 5% per year since the early '90s, doubling to 10% in 1996 when it reached $125 million in sales. Soy is also the staple of the meat-alternative industry, which has grown 30% per year during the past two years. In 1996, sales of all soyfoods reached $1 billion, up from $760 million in 1990.

Nasoya Foods, Inc. manufactures and markets organic tofu, Asian pasta, Vegi-Dressing and Nayonaise.

Vitasoy USA, headquartered in South San Francisco, manufactures and markets soy beverages, tofu, Asian pastas, juices, teas, veggie-burgers, veggie-dogs and tofu seasonings under several well-known brand names including Vitasoy, Azumaya, Nasoya, NewMenu and Vita.

Edited by Pam Ahlberg