Taifun: 30 years of tofu – everything revolves round the soya bean

Fabian von Beesten in the Taifun Tofu Garden on the company site (Photo © Karin Heinze)

Taifun 3 is the preliminary name of the newly developed soya variety. It is suited to growing in the European climate. Like other varieties, with which the Freiburg tofu specialist manufactures its products, it is the result of years of research in cooperation the University of Hohenheim. During its 30-year history, Taifun has never stood still and has long since become the market leader for organic tofu in Europe. In its big new building, that has created space for expansion and to meet the growing demand from home and abroad, tofu from 100% European soya beans is now coming off the production line.

The “Taifun culture”

“Here at Taifun we care about two things in particular that are lived reality for us every day,” says Taifun managing director Elisabeth Huber, “high regard for people and the community and high regard for the raw materials and nature along the whole value chain.” From this flows how we “Taifunians” go about our business. “We try to do things differently and to present our values for all to see,” explains Julian Vorberg-Heck, who is responsible for national sales. As the son of the company's founder, Wolfgang Heck, he too values the sense of fair common purpose in all activities within and outside the company and he is proud of the pioneer work carried on in all aspects of soya beans over the last 20 years. “As early as in 1997, we began with the regional organic soya bean. In those days it was something completely new for most farmers,” he explains. “From now on, we're sourcing beans 100% from Germany, France and Austria – a genuine milestone in the history of our firm.”

Committed and together on an equal footing: all generations appreciate the the good working atmosphere at Taifun. (Photo © Karin Heinze)

Fabian von Beesten, one of three agricultural engineers overseeing soya cropping, speaks about the highlight of this year: little by little, he and his colleagues extended the organic soya bean cropping carried out by their partners. This year they have reached the point where, for the first time, Taifun has sourced the soya for its annual production of around 5,000 tonnes of tofu totally from the heart of Europe – from its own cropping projects. The European solution has many advantages: short supply routes and being able to help and advise farmers on the spot. What made all this possible was the ten years of research and development, carried out in collaboration with the University of Hohenheim, on soya varieties suited to cultivation in the European climate.

Great interest in the 1000 Gardens Project

Contributing to the aim of increasing the number of varieties of soya beans, was the launch of the 1000 Gardens Project by Taifun in the spring of last year. It received huge media attention and proved to be very popular with gardeners. “We were genuinely surprised at how interested people were,” says press officer Lina Cuypers. “Instead of our target of 1000 people to grow soya cross-breeds in their gardens, over 2000 took part.” Taifun summarised the results of this collective experiment in a brochure.

Preserving and developing soya bean variety – a major objective of Taifun. (Photo © Karin Heinze)

The hobby gardeners sent in nearly two tonnes of soya that provide information on the geographic and climatic suitability of different varieties of soya. Because the response was so positive the 1000 Gardens Project is to be repeated. As the market leader, Taifun's soya requirement is rising constantly. Roughly 100 tonnes are processed every week and every month, about two million packages leave the facility in Freiburg to enter the German trade or are exported to 16 countries in Europe.

Video: Manufacturing operations at Taifun