Morinaga Milk Industry's US subsidiary bought Turtle Island Foods, the Oregon maker of Tofurky plant-based meats and Moocho dairy-free cheese. Morinaga's filing put the share price at about ¥1.63 billion; Tofurky's CEO said the gross amount paid was over $50 million. Turtle Island had about $42 million in 2021 sales and was losing money. About Tofurky Seth Tibbott started Turtle Island Foods in 1980, and his stepson Jaime Athos was chief executive at the time of the sale. The company is based in Hood River, Oregon, and kept making its products there. Athos said he was proud of what it had achieved as an independent, family-run company. Morinaga's US base Morinaga Nutritional Foods runs a tofu plant in Tualatin, Oregon, and a sales and research office in Torrance, California. Morinaga began exporting tofu to the US in 1978. It planned to add technical staff and production capacity at Hood River and to grow the Tofurky and Moocho brands.
