The Hong Kong Soya Bean Products Company…Vitasoy – manufactured in Hong Kong since 1940
One of our earliest articles was Linda Kernan’s, The Vitasoy Story, which was sent out in email Newsletter 6 in May 2013. A recent SCMP article provides further information about the company which was started in 1940 by Lo Kwee Seong as The Hong Kong Soya Bean Products Company.
As this suggests, “It’s one of a few classic Hong Kong brands, such as Lee Kum Kee or Wing Wah Bakery, that have managed to become international successes without losing touch with their local identity. And it’s doing well: Vitasoy’s revenue grew 10 per cent last year as consumers shunned syrupy soft drinks for those made with natural ingredients…
…in 1940 Lo raised HK$15,000 to launch the Hong Kong Soya Bean Products Company. ‘What is wanted in the colony today is a source of supply of nutritious food which is cheap enough to be within the reach of the masses,’ he said at the inauguration of his Causeway Bay factory…
…Post-WW2 the product was known as Vitamilk, but in 1952, a group of Hong Kong companies pressured the government to ban Lo from using the word “milk” in the name. They reached a compromise: the Chinese name remained the same, but the English name was changed to Vitasoy…”(1)
The company is now known as Vitasoy International Group Limited.
Undated Vitasoy production Courtesy: SCMP
First tetrapak design 1975 Courtesy: Vitasoy
Source:
- Homegrown Hong Kong: the wholesome story of Vitasoy SCMP 6th April 2017
This article was first posted on 26th April 2017.
See:
- Vitasoy – Company website
- Vitasoy told to take responsibility for recycling after sample shows 74 per cent of drinks cartons in Hong Kong landfills from firm SCMP 28th November 2018
- Cooler than marijuana? Hong Kong’s iconic Vitasoy drinks brand is on a high thanks to Chinese memes SCMP 1st January 2019
This article was first posted on 26th April 2017.
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