Whole Soybeans: export from Canada to ASEAN

Canadian soybeans divide sharply into two trades, and confusing them is the most common error. Food-grade soybeans (clear hilum, specific size, low defect) go to tofu, soy milk and natto manufacture and command a premium. Crush-grade soybeans go to oil and meal and are bought on oil and protein content at commodity pricing.

Canada, and Ontario in particular, has built a substantial identity-preserved food-grade programme, meaning specific varieties are grown, segregated and documented through the chain rather than commingled. For a tofu or soy milk manufacturer that documentation is the product: variety and provenance determine yield and texture.

If you are buying food grade, specify variety, hilum colour, size and defect tolerance, and ask how segregation is maintained. If you are buying for crush, none of that matters and you should be quoting on oil and protein instead.

Ontario origin generally routes through eastern ports, which changes the freight assumption for buyers who default to Vancouver for Canadian agricultural goods.