The Vitasoy History

The Vitasoy story began in 1940 with a big idea and a little bean.

The bean was soy, the main source of protein for the Chinese people for over 4,000 years. The big idea - the brainchild of Dr K.S. Lo was bringing a nutritious drink made from this healthy little bean to a wider market.

And so VITASOY was born: a nutritious, high-protein soy drink that was sold at an affordable price to the people of Hong Kong who were suffering after the World Wars. At first, VITASOY was delivered fresh to people's homes on bicycle, later Dr Lo began selling his soy bean milk through retail outlets and, by 1950, sales had grown to such an extent that a new factory had to be built to meet demands.

In 1953, we started to adopt sterilization technology in the manufacture of VITASOY soy drinks. This enabled the drinks to be stored without refrigeration, and thus expanded the distribution and revolutionized the business.

In 1975, we introduced paper packed products and were the first Hong Kong Company to introduce Tetra Pak packaging technology for drinks production. The Tetra Pak packaging system, which involves UHT (Ultra High Temperature) treatment of the product and packaging in aseptic cartons, ensures that a drink product can be kept for months without refrigeration.

At that time, VITASOY became a household name and, by the late 1970's and early 80's, there was no looking back as the Group pushed into overseas markets.

In 1979, Dr. Lo’s daughter, Yvonne Lo, introduced Vitasoy’s soy beverage to the U.S. market. Initial sales were small, so like her father, she sold her products store-to-store in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Her company, Vitasoy-USA Inc., quickly became the market leader for soy beverage in Chinese immigrant communities. In 1980, Vitasoy began distributing its line of products in Canada.

Today, the name of VITASOY has spread far beyond Hong Kong, and the group's products are sold in over 40 markets around the world - including the USA, Canada, Mainland China, Europe, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, Guatemala, Trinidad and Venezuela.

Now a listed company (0345HK) on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong with plants located in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Australia, the US and Singapore, Vitasoy is a dynamic, international organization setting new standards of quality and innovation wherever its products are sold.