In China alone, soy milk (doujiang) has been used as a beverage for a long time. Traditionally, it was served hot, straight from a pot for breakfast, at the place where it was made, whether sweetened or as a base for a savory soup served with fried dough sticks. It was not used to feed babies or as infant formula.
Starting in the 1920s, a small number of companies in China began to produce and sell bottled soy milk.
In Hong Kong, Vitasoy was launched in 1940 by KS Lo as a nutritious food for refugees fleeing during World War II. By 1968, it had captured 25% of the Hong Kong soft drink market, second only to Coca-Cola.
In Japan, bottled soy milk arrived around 1957. The first boom of soy milk began around 1980; all soy milk brands were sold in aseptic boxes of 180 ml.
In the United States and Europe, soy milk started to become popular in the 1980s. The first two nationally sold brands were Vitasoy and Edensoy, both packaged aseptically so they did not need refrigeration. The first superstar of soy milks, Silk, was launched by White Wave from Boulder, Colorado, in early 1996. It was sold in a dairy product box, carton with a two-water tap lid, resembling typical milk cartons.
