Danone has recently stated that its
plant based business has the potential
to become as significant as
its own dairy offerings.
Plant based drink growth is expected
to continue outpacing dairy
milk sales. Cow’s milk consumption
has been falling over the years and
is expected to decline further by
2.2% in 2019. Sales are hampered
by negative press, greater awareness
of animal welfare and the
anti-dairy movement. Additionally,
plant based milk is perceived
as better for the environment than
animal based milk.
Per capita consumption (PCC) of
cow’s milk is projected to decline by
1.3 in 2023 standing at 62.3 litres
per person, an equivalent of 21.5
million litres. In comparison, the
PCC stood at 68.8 litres in 2018.
Producers of animal milk are
likely to seek new growth opportunities
to prevent a further decline in
sales. Organic and functional milk
appear as the two growth drivers
of the category.
Innovation trends
As the plant-based category
evolves companies are working
PLANT BASED DAIRY ALTERNATIVES
harder to differentiate with new
plant-based niches, new flavours
textures and cross category products.
The emerging varieties within
plant based drinks are growing at
the cost of soya and almond drinks
due to consumers’ perception of
the environmental impact of the
production of these varieties together
with the excitement of new
consumers to diversify their plant
based drinks consumption with
varieties that could provide additional
health benefits and novel
flavours and tastes.
Good Karma (flax) Oatly (oat)
and Forager Project (cashew) are
examples of new and established
brands seeking to exploit niches
and evolve individual categories
into more sophisticated offerings
in a bid to differentiate themselves
from the competition.
2018 was the year that confirmed
oat milk’s rise to prominence
in the US plant based dairy
alternative category. Pinterest,
the online vision board website,
revealed that oat drinks was the
year’s hottest plant based drink,
reporting that oat milk searches on
its site went up 186 year over year.
For instance, Silk’s new oat milk line
Oat Yeah was launched in January
2019 and is available at retailers
including Target, Walmart, Publix
and Sprouts in three varieties
Plain, Vanilla and Chocolate.
Within the oat drinks space, the
Swedish firm Oatly which entered the
US in 2016 has seen its sales surge as
it targets high end coffee shops. Oatly
announced it will open its first production
plant in New Jersey in 2019
to support its growth Alongside increased
production, the firm aims to
introduce more flavours of its oat milk.
Also, drinks made from peas
have similar growth potential as
oat drinks, since they boast nutritional
attributes with high protein
content and sustainable values
with less water usage than nuts.
All figures taken from Zenith Global
Report „USA Opportunities in Plantbased
Drinks Report“. More market
infiormation is available from Zenith
Global Ltd, tel. +44 (0)1225 327900,
eMail: JHMaynard@zenithglobal.
com, www.zenithglobal.com
September 2020 ¦ international-dairy.com · 23
/www.zenithglobal.com
/international-dairy.com
link
