Marinade brand Soy Vay enters snack category with popped rice clusters

Soy Vay was started by two friends, a Jewish boy and a Chinese girl, who blended their cultural flavors and family recipes to make bottled sauces. Officially founded in 1982, Soy Vay’s sauce became popular in county fairs, farmers markets and local stores across Northern California. The brand is now owned by the Clorox Company, which operates out of Oakland, California.

Rolling out to US grocery stores including Kroger and Target from this month, Soy Vay popped rice clusters are available in ginger and sesame, spicy and sweet and Thai style peanut. They retail from $3.99 to $4.29 for a four or five-ounce bag.

Baked brown and wild rice 

The clusters are made of baked brown and wild rice and black sesame seeds. They are non-GMO and have no artificial flavors, high-fructose corn syrup or preservatives.

“The products are taking inspiration from the brand’s commitment to only using premium ingredients,”​ associate marketing director Molly Steinkrauss told BakeryandSnacks.

She added the business had identified snacking as a strategic growth area, as it looked to tap an expected 21% increase in US snack consumption over the next five years.

'A white space for our brand'​

“​We believe we have filled a white space for our brand by moving into the snacking category," said Steinkrauss.​

Soy Vay plans to devote around a quarter of its overall brand marketing spend to the new snacks, but added it would also continue to focus on its core products, which include marinades, dressings, rice, noodles and sauces.