Who knows?
Fact is, the Chinese already knew about the benefits of soy centuries ago. But it took a Flemish entrepreneur and visionary to introduce soy to the Europeans. That man was the grandfather of Philippe Vandemoortele and he discovered the nutritious power of soy in the 1930ies.
40 years later, his grandson Philippe Vandemoortele had an even greater vision: growing soy, he aimed to tackle the nutrition problem in the third world – soy is ideal for this purpose because it doesn’t need much water to grow. In 1975 he developed an exclusive production process for soymilk, based on whole soybeans.
Today, Provamel is still active in third world projects while at the same time producing healthy vegetarian bio food for an expanding European and American market.