Silk Soymilk (My personal favorite is chocolate)

Think there ain't nothing like the real thing?

The Bite
Not so - at least in the dairy department. Take Silk Soymilk. It looks like milk. It pours like milk. It tastes like milk (although some discriminating Biters prefer the taste of Silk to cow's milk). And you can find it next to the regular milk at your local supermarket. The difference? It could be the soy-lution to a few of the world's problems, due to the natural health benefits of soy and Silk's commitment to going green (like using clean wind energy). Vive la difference!

Company Background
Back in 1977, entrepreneur Steve Demos sold tofu products from a small store in Boulder, CO. After his ice cream and meatless hot dogs brands failed to take off, Demos put all his energy into making soymilk, selling from dispensers at his store. Thirty years later Silk's the number-one producer of organic soymilk. And when Ellen Feeney, VP of Responsible Livelihood at WhiteWave Foods (Silk's parent company) tells us, "We take our commitment to the environment seriously," she's not kidding. The company's alternative energy use and green HQs prove it. Eco-initiatives aside, pour some Silk on your cereal, stir it into your coffee, or just sip it as a filling snack, 'cuz this is soy you're gonna enjoy.

Why Care

• This month introduces the new Green Caps program, where Silk donates 30 kilowatt-hours in offsets for every UPC code customers enter at its website.
• Offsets 100% of the power used in production by supporting clean, renewable wind energy - to the equivalent of planting 72,000 acres of trees since 2003.
• Operates a "Zero Waste" program at HQ, with biodegradable utensils, and full-scale recycling and composting programs.
• All chairs and workstations at HQ are made from at least 40% recycled materials and are at least 95% recyclable.
• Uses partially recycled shipping materials and has reduced the amount of material used on each shipping box.
• 92% of employees participate in the Boulder Community Food Share program's Annual Corporate Giving Challenge, with funds matched by Silk.
• Silk soy is not genetically modified.

Keeping It Real
Silk suffered some scrutiny in 2003. After a soy crop failure in the U.S., it needed to outsource some of its soy production to China and South America. Feeney says that while there are no plans to grow 100% of their soy stateside, the company "will continue to source the vast majority of [its] soy domestically." Also, Silk does not use recycled cartons, but neither do most similar food brands, since "there aren't a lot of FDA-approved options for food-contact packaging."

(Also, Starbucks uses exclusively Silk Soymilk at all of their stores.)

This entire post is from an IdealBite I got in my email on April 20, 2007!