When it comes to plant based milks, oat milk reigns supreme (in my opinion at least).
However, I often spend far too long standing in the supermarket aisle on my weekly shop deciding which one to buy… Before inevitably picking a selection to sample.
Despite what might seem like a near saturated market, alternative milks are rapidly becoming the norm. Oat milk sales in the United Kingdom grew by 108% last year, while almond and soy milk sales plateaued.
Plant-based eaters like myself are becoming increasingly spoiled for choice as more options hit the shelves. The surge in plant-based foods is reflected in the valuations of various companies. Popular oat milk brand Oatly is valued at USD $6.9 billion.
Meat alternative producer Beyond Meat is valued at USD $5.39 billion and has seen a share price jump from $25 to $85 since IPO. Competitor, Impossible Foods is planning to open their IPO at a USD $7 billion valuation.
With this trend in mind, Wide Open Agriculture (ASX: WOA) is full steam ahead with their range of plant based products. The Company is developing plant-based meats, noodles, yogurt, cheese, condiments and protein power. Their retail brand, Dirty Clean Food currently sells ‘OatUP’ oat milk which has successfully gone from concept to sales in under 12 months. OatUP is the only certified carbon neutral, regeneratively grown oat milk on the market and has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers.
The product has been rolled out across Australia and is now available at over 350 stores. The Company has also signed an agreement with Grow Hub to distribute the product in Singapore. This serves as an entry point to build other distributor relationships in other south-east Asian markets.
Expanding their oat milk kingdom, WOA is developing a high protein oat milk using Western Australian oats and lupin protein in a proprietary formulation created using Australian Sweet Lupin. 60% of global lupin supply is produced in Western Australia.
The nutrition content of the enriched oat milk is comparable to dairy milk, a USD $270 billion per annum market (as of 2020). In fact, WOA’s enriched protein oat milk option delivers equivalent levels of protein, calcium and micronutrients of dairy milk, with less fat and sugars.
The Company has received positive feedback from taste testers who rated the product highly in terms of appearance, texture, flavour and aftertaste. Adjustments are ongoing to improve both the taste and mouthfeel of the product further. Following recipe refinement WOA expects to launch their protein oat milk in Q4 FY22.
With a taste that captures a large customer base, robust nutrition profile and environmentally friendly production approach, WOA ticks many boxes for consumers and investors alike.
I personally can’t wait to throw a carton in my shopping cart to see for myself…
Samantha Freidin is a business journalist at Emerald Financial whilst also completing a Masters of Marketing and Digital Communications at Monash University.
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