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Plant-based beverage company Califia Farms just launched Organic Almond Creamers.
The vegan coffee creamers are available in Lavender, Brown Sugar, and Vanilla flavors, and are made using only “simple” ingredients – meaning no added gums or oils. The products are currently the only USDA-certified organic plant-based creamers on the market.
“These products are the latest innovation in our ongoing goal to provide an array of delicious plant-based products that meet the evolving and unique needs of today’s consumer,” said Suzanne Ginestro, Chief Marketing Officer at Califia Farms, in a statement.
Califia’s new creamers join Organic Almond Milk and Organic Oat Milk in the brand’s organic-certified line. Launched in early 2023, the range will soon expand to include organic coconut milk and vanilla-flavored milk, both of which are also oil and gum-free.
In February of this year, the brand even introduced a “complete” plant-based milk designed to be “nutritionally comparable” to dairy, including a plant-based protein blend and fortification with vitamins and minerals. (Califia Complete also contains 50 percent less sugar than dairy.)
In addition to their organic certification, the new creamers have a uniquely reduced ingredients list. For example, the Vanilla Almond flavor contains just water, almonds, sugar, baking soda, and flavoring, which the brand notes was a conscious decision.
“Organic Almond Creamers are the only products of their kind on the market,” explained Ginestro. “And give consumers something they’ve been asking for: creamy, great-tasting plant-based coffee creamers that are organic and made from simple ingredients.”
Consumers prefer ‘less processed’ plant milk
As noted by Ginestro, consumers are increasingly conscious of the ingredients and processes that go into making their favorite foods, particularly plant-based ones. Mintel’s July 2020 “Natural and Organic Food Shopper” noted that 50 percent of organic food and drink buyers would prefer dairy alternatives that they perceive as less processed.
In fact, a variety of recent consumer surveys report that people are worried about processed foods and ingredients, perhaps in part due to widespread uncertainty over exactly what qualifies as processed and how such foods are regulated, which was also recorded.
Scientific reviews have indeed linked excessive consumption of ultra-processed food (UPF) to negative health outcomes, but overuse of the categorization in popular culture has rendered it almost useless as a way of differentiating between nutritious and non-nutritious.
Jenny Chapman, food systems researcher and author of a recent report on how the language surrounding UPF often targets meat alternatives, told Plant Based News (PBN): “The UPF categorization simply tells us that, like so much of the food we eat – tofu, hummus, oat milk, wholemeal bread – plant-based meats are made in factories. It is unable to tell you if a food is healthy or not – that’s not what it was designed to do.”
(To learn more about ultra-processed foods, check out this guide.)
The new plant-based organic creamers from Califia Farms have a “silky-smooth texture” and will be available in a 25.4-ounce, refrigerated format from Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole Foods Market, and specialty stores nationwide from June 2024 at the RRP of $6.79 per item.
