Queench to buy soyfoods firm

US food and beverage maker Queench is to buy Canadian soyfoods company So Soya+, along with the flavoured water beverages firm Bay Hill Impex as it aims to expand its product lines.

Terms of the acquisition, which are subject to the conclusion of a definitive agreement, were not disclosed.

The privately held Ontario-headquartered companies were founded in 1991, designed to make soy food products more consumer-friendly and accessible to the mainstream market.

So Soya+ currently markets 10 varieties of soy products, catering to a growing consumer trend of high protein, low carbohydrate diets. In 2003 the company generated sales of over half a million canadian dollars.

In the US the soy foods industry reached $3.65 billion in 2002, up 13 per cent over the previous year.

Queench holds 24-year leases on four natural springs located in Canada, Florida, New York and Oregon and distributes bottled water product lines and Perfect Whip, an organic soy-based food product.