Oat milk producer targets China and its growing taste for dairy – ‘the future is here in Asia’
- Despite 85 per cent of Chinese people being lactose intolerant, the population is being encouraged to drink and eat more dairy products
- Swedish oat milk brand Oatly has opened an office in Shanghai and deployed a new Chinese character for ‘vegan milk’ to win over milk drinkers to its product
If you’ve visited a coffee shop recently, you will have likely had the option to swap the dairy milk in your cappuccino for a plant-based substitute.
Of all the vegan alternatives on the market, including almond, hemp and soy, oat milk stands out as the closest to cow’s milk, particularly when heated, frothed and poured over coffee. Coffee-loving urbanites in North America and Europe have gone mad for oats, which have less of the environmental impact than farmed dairy.
The world’s largest oat milk producer, Oatly, is struggling to keep up with demand, yet it is eyeing up China in the hope of finding a market for dairy-free milk in the country, where about 85 per cent of the population are lactose intolerant.
While almonds and soybeans are notoriously water-intensive to produce, oat milk is one of the least environmentally impactful options. Fewer greenhouse gases are emitted producing oat milk than dairy, rice or soy milk.
Nutritionally, a cup of oat milk has 120 calories compared to whole milk’s 146, and it also contains more fibre. Low in carbohydrate and fat, oat milk is, however, also low in protein. Drinks made with oats often come fortified with vitamins B12 and D as well as calcium to match some of dairy milk’s benefits.