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Waitrose has announced the launch of a fresh oat milk in store, which comes in similar packaging to cow’s milk.
Oato, a Lancashire-based oat milk company, specializes in fresh dairy-free products that can be ordered in milk rounds. Its new Barista-style one liter bottle of oat milk that’s now in Waitrose is “creamy and foamable” and is said to work well in tea and coffee.
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“The availability of Oato in a mainstream supermarket like Waitrose marks a shift in consumer accessibility to fresh, sustainable milk alternatives,” said Carl Hopwood, Oato Founder, in a statement. “Locally sourced, convenience, and provenance matter to British consumers, so to be one of the few that have those USPs within the dairy alternative category while also being fresh and not UHT raises the bar.”
The rise of oat milk
Oat milk has skyrocketed in popularity over the last decade, going from a niche product to one of the most popular milks in the UK. Oat milk sales doubled from 2019 to 2020, and Brits spend around £149 million on it each year.
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The UK’s milk alternative market is the second largest in Europe (just behind Germany). A growing number of people are turning away from dairy on ethical, environmental, and health grounds, and there are now many brands stocking vegan milk in pretty much every supermarket in the country.
According to Oato, it’s hoping to become one of the leading dairy alternative brands in the UK with its USP of being fresh and manufactured in the UK.
Waitrose follows in the footsteps of Marks and Spencer’s, which launched a similar-looking oat product in cow’s milk-style packaging last year.
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