In 1977, when the natural foods industry was in its infancy, Norman Holland and Andrew Schecter envisioned a business to serve as a vehicle for positive social change. With the help of $7000 in loan money from friends, Northern Soy (that’s our company name, SoyBoy is our brand name) began making organic tofu. From the conviction that happy workers produce higher quality foods, Northern Soy has since strived to create a workplace where people can enjoy their work and have their needs fulfilled.

Fast forward to the present: the natural foods industry has experienced explosive growth over the past four decades. Big food conglomerates have largely taken it over. At SoyBoy, we remain independently owned, and Norman and Andy still manage the daily operations.
In 1977 our first small tofu-making factory was a scene right out of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Over time, the system has evolved profoundly.

Back-breaking repetitive jobs have been replaced with microprocessor-controlled state-of-the-art machinery, allowing people to focus on quality control and food safety. We have worked hard to remain true to our original ideals. Andy and Norman are still vegetarians. From our inception we have supported organic agriculture as both a business and a personal conviction. The extent we have succeeded can be measured by a loyal customer base that continues to grow, and in the dedication of our Northern Soy family whose average tenure is 10 years.

We believe in eating local, and we source our ingredients locally whenever possible. In the last year, we’ve used organic soybeans from the Finger Lakes region of New York (50 miles), Ontario, Canada (150 miles) and Eastern Michigan (260 miles). We always try to buy as close to home as we can, but market conditions sometimes mean going a little farther to get the high-protein organic beans that we need. But our US-Canada Grown Organic soybeans have always come from dedicated Organic North American farms.