Almond, soy, coconut, non-fat or whole? American stores offer a dizzying array of milk but a new option is experiencing unprecedented growth and fast becoming a vegan favorite: oat milk
The oat milk market was virtually non-existent five years ago, but in the 12 months to April 2019 revenues from the sale of the non-dairy creamy drink catapulted 222 per cent, according to The Good Food Institute. In recent months, Starbucks, American yoghurt giant Chobani, and Nesquik have all started offering oat milk, known for its nutritional and environmental benefits.
"There seems to be a buzz around oat milk, especially in the US, which isn't there with other plant-based milks," Andy Coyne, food correspondent at research firm GlobalData, told AFP. Swedish world leader Oatly entered the US market in 2016 by first offering oat milk in coffee shops for cappuccinos and lattes. "(That) was a very clever piece of ground-up marketing from Oatly," said Coyne. "It became a word of mouth phenomenon and its popularity has grown from there."
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Oat milk sales represent just over one per cent of sales of almond milk in the United States, according to the data compiled by The Good Food Institute, which promotes plant-based alternatives to meat, dairy and eggs. But oat milk companies expect their product to rapidly catch up, saying it has the edge over rivals when it comes to taste. "Almond milk is great but it tastes like almond," said Peter Truby, chief marketing officer at Elmhurst, an American oat milk producer.
"And what if you don't want an almond taste in your coffee and you're just looking for something creamy to go with your coffee and will not overpower it?" he added. While oats have a very common-man image, Oatly succeeded in positioning oat milk as a high-end product by first establishing it in the coffee market. Now it is ubiquitous on shelves across supermarkets.