MEXICO, D.F. - THe
Mexican government is
working to improve the
nutrition levels of the
nation’s 70 million people.
To help in their effort
government leaders often
call on the American
Soybean Association to
provide information and
technical assistance in the
use of soy protein. Their
WATER THAT WONT QUIT
Mexicans look to soybeans for protein boost
requests have resulted in
benefits to the Mexican
consumer through improved
diets and to U.S. soybean
producers who now have an
expanding new market for
their crop.
One such request for ASA
assistance came in 1977
when Manuel Bernardo
Aguirre, Governor of the
state of Chihuahua invited
Gil Harrison, ASA’s Latin
American director, to make
presentations to community
leaders in major towns and
cities of his state. Hamson
contacted Felipe Suberbie,
general manager of In
dustrial de Alimentos, a
Mexico City manufacturer of
soy-food products; who, at
his own expense, im
mediately offered to send a
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sales manager and a cook
with Harrison to Chihuahua.
“We gave a total of five
presentations to dietitians,
nutritionists and doctors and
nurses of the Social Security
Institute, the Child
Protection Institute
hospitals and restaurants,”
says Harrison. “Following
the sessions I met with
Governor Aguirre and one of
his aides. Together we
prepared a step by step
program for the
establishment of a full-fat
soy flc'ir plant using a
simple U.S.-made extruder
and a flour grinding mill.
“In our original planning
we were well aware that the
market for human con
sumption of soy foods did not
exist and that it would take
an educational effort to show
people the benefits of soy in
their diets,” explains
Harnson.
“With this m mind, I made
all the economic calculations
for the plant based on the
utilization of the full-fat flour
for poultry feed. We felt that
as demand for higher-priced
human food use increased
the plant would show in
creasing profits and more of
the production could be
diverted from animal to
human food uses.
“Based on the plan we
submitted, the governor
authorized 6 million pesos to
build the plant,” says
Hamson.
“Poultry producers in the
area were willing to pur
chase the initial production
as ASA-sponsored ex
periments in other areas of
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 13,1980—C23
the country had shown the
advantages of using full-fat
soya meal for broilers.
In march of 1978 Mexico’s
President, Jose Lopez
Portillo, demonstrating his
interest in state soya
projects, personally
inaugurated the Chihuahua
soybean processing plant.
(Recently, he returned to the
city to inaugurate a new
production line that makes a
blend of soya with cows’
milk.)
“In the beginning only
about five percent of the
plant’s production went for
human consumption as full
fat soya flour, which was
sold retail in one kilogram
packages to bakers and
meat packers,” says
Ramson.
He proudly points out,
however, that today well
over 50 percent of the plant’s
production is devoted to
products for human con
sumption.
“The principal product is a
blend of soya flour with
‘pinole’ (ground, roasted
com with brown sugar)
which is distributed in 50-
pound bags at very low cost
to the Tarahumara Indians
in the mountains of
Chihuahua, ” he explains.
“Also a tortilla flour
enriched with 8 percent full-
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fat soya flour, is being sold
at a subsidized price to low
income groups.
“The development of new
soya products to suit
Mexican tastes is important
too,” says Harrison.
Recently the Chihuahua
plant developed and began
marketing a new weaning
food called “Soyavena,” a
soya-oatmeal blend that will
greatly improve child
nutrition in the area.
“As a result of this initial
project, other states in
Mexico have also become
interested in this plant and
are requesting technical
assistance from the
government,” says
Harrison.
He points out that although
the total soya used is small,
amounting to some 130 tons a
month, the potential for
increased usage is
tremendous.
“What counts is that the
usage of soya is growing and
the potential is very great.
The people of Mexico eat 10
million tons of com and
three million tons of wheat
each year,” he says.
“At a level of only five
percent enrichment, the
consumption of soya could
be elevated considerably in
Mexico in the years ahead.”