Laurie Isley, Roberta Simpson-Dolbeare and Gerry Hayden visit a company in El Salvador producing a variety of soy-based foods using both soybeans and textured soy protein.

This week the American Soybean Association’s (ASA) World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) program hosted a group of farmer, state staff and industry leaders in El Salvador and Guatemala.

The group met with a variety of soy food processing companies importing both U.S. soybeans and U.S. soy flour, and learned about new soy-based products under development. They also saw first-hand the potential for market growth.

One Guatemalan company alone imports over $2.4 million of U.S. soy products per year and has launched eight new soy-based products to the Central American market in 2018.

The group also participated in WISHH-hosted seminars in both countries, targeted toward government officials pursuing the purchase of U.S. soy-based products for their programming. T

The traveling  U.S. soy leaders, including Roberta Simpson-Dolbeare, from the Illinois Soybean Association; Laurie Isley, from the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee; Gerry Hayden, from the Kentucky Soybean Association/ASA director; and Ryan Findlay, CEO of ASA, spoke at the seminars about daily practices on soybean farms in the U.S. and policies that make U.S. soy both safe and sustainable.

The group also included John Cox from the Soy Foods Association of North America (SANA), Kathy Maurer from the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee, and Marypat Corbett and Liz Hare from WISHH.