C2 THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2021
Alt-milk?
A look inside the rise of
plant-based beverages
BY SIERRA DAWN M C CLAIN
Capital Press
C
ARUTHERS, California —
Matt Efird had a sandbox.
He sometimes built sand-
castles, but his favorite pas-
time, his parents recall, was forming
the sand into a miniature version of
his family’s farm and pretending to
run it.
That passion stayed with Efird,
and now, at 43, he is a fifth-gener-
ation farmer 20 minutes south of
Fresno.
Efird grows, among other crops,
800 acres of almonds. His almonds
all go to Blue Diamond, a coopera-
tive; many become almond milk.
“The blue carton? That’s us,” he
said, pride surging in his tone.
Alternative, plant-based “milks,”
often called alt-milks, have cata-
pulted in popularity the past few
years. Companies keep popping up;
brands are rolling out new products;
growers are eager to join the action.
But the alt-milk industry some-
times resembles a war zone. Dairy
groups say the term “milk” should
be permitted only on the labels of
animal-derived products, arguing
that sweeping dairy imitators under
the same umbrella dupes consumers
into thinking the two are nutrition-
ally equal. The dairy industry has
pushed the Food and Drug Admin-
istration to enforce regulations, and
FDA this fall is considering doing so.
But despite conflicts, the alt-milk
industry is making a splash.
Old is new
Plant milk isn’t new.
Coconut milk has existed for
thousands of years — a staple across
Southeast Asian, Indian and African
cuisines.
The past few years, consumer in-
terest has flourished. Alt-milk com-
panies told the Capital Press that
consumers are choosing their prod-
ucts because of taste preference, di-
etary needs, perception of sustain-
ability and a general shift away from
animal products.
According to sales data from
SPINS, a retail data company, plant-
based milks made up 16% of the to-
tal milk market, including dairy, in
2020, compared to 14% in 2019 and
13% in 2018.
Alt-milks have done well in 2020.
Data from Nielsen, a market re-
search firm, show that over the 52-
week period ending Oct. 10, sales of
nondairy “milks” increased 16.4%.
During the 12 months ending in Oc-
tober 2020, American consumers
spent $13.3 billion on cow milk and
$2.3 billion on nondairy milks, ac-
cording to market watcher Nielsen.
New ‘milks’
Innovators have created milks
made from coconuts, almonds, soy-
beans, oats, peas, cashews, flax seeds,
macadamia nuts, rice, pecans, hemp,
pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts and
flavor blends.
Pacific Foods, an Oregon com-
pany that sells soups, broths and
beverages nationwide, was an early
alt-milk pioneer. The company told
the Capital Press it works with hun-
dreds of farmers and cooperatives,
sourcing as much as possible from
Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
Pacific Foods creates beverages
Three of Pacific Foods’ many plant-based beverage options.
“across the flavor spectrum.” Oregon
hazelnut growers say the company’s
iconic hazelnut milk, for example,
has helped their industry.
The company’s top three best-sell-
ers are oat, almond and hemp bev-
erages.
Hemp milk is made with hemp
seeds from the Cannabis sativa L.
plant. It doesn’t cause a high because
it contains no THC.
Mark Taylor, founder of the
Southern Oregon Hemp Coopera-
tive, said hemp milk is evidence of
how versatile the plant is.
“It shows the vastness of hemp,”
said Taylor.
According to SPINS, oat milk this
year overtook soy milk in popularity.
Sales of oat milk were $228.6 million
in the 52 weeks ending Oct. 4: al-
most 10% of the total market.
Outside oats and rice, few alt-
milks use a grain base, but research-
ers are experimenting with millet,
rye, sorghum, triticale and other
grains.
One Oregon innovator, Sarah
Pool, recently won $235,000 for in-
venting barley milk made from the
spent grain byproducts leftover from
beer brewing. Pool’s company, Take
Two Foods, debuted barley milk this
summer and plans to expand nation-
wide.
Almond milk remains the leader,
with 63% of the alt-milk market.
Almonds reign
Efird, the California almond
farmer, grows 10 varieties of al-
monds. Butte and Padre varieties are
often oil-roasted because they hold
their flavor well. Nonpareil, Califor-
nia’s most valued almond, goes into
raw almond packages and high-end
products. Milder-flavored varieties
usually go into “milk.”
Blue Diamond — Efird is a direc-
tor — is developing new products,
including almond yogurts. Although
Efird is excited about alt-milks, he
said the demonization of animal ag-
riculture saddens him.
“Do I believe in the premise that
animal ag is somehow bad for our
ecosystem and should be eliminated?
I don’t. I have a very hard time with
that narrative,” said Efird.
The grower said he thinks there’s
room for both plant and animal
products in the market.
“We look at ourselves as an alter-
native. I’ve never been one to say it
should be one or the other. If there’s
a consumer segment, we’ll tailor to
it. Good ‘ol capitalism,” he said.
Efird said he knows many farmers
who work at the intersection of plant
and animal-derived beverages. One
of these farmers is his brother-in-
law, Donny Rollin.
Rollin, owner and partner in Rol-
lin Valley Farms in Riverdale, Cal-
ifornia, stands at the crossroads
of two worlds: He is both a dairy
farmer and an almond grower.
His farm milks 2,200 cows three
times a day and grows 84 acres of al-
monds. Rollin thinks both plant bev-
erages and cow milks should be free
to thrive in the marketplace.
“To a certain extent, I believe we
can all sit on the shelf together,” he
said.
Rollin said dairy farmers could
learn from alt-milk companies.
Dairy imitation brands, he said, are
aggressive and pushing boundaries
to create what consumers want. The
dairy industry, he said, should be do-
ing the same. He considers shelf-sta-
ble aseptic milk and lactose-free
milk game-changers, and he hopes
more inventions will follow.
Rollin finds himself torn as both a
milk and alt-milk producer.
“I’m on both sides of the fence. I’m
happy they’re making almond milk
and I think it’s great. But on the flip
side, I’m also a dairy person,” he said.
There are some alt-milk compa-
nies that he is concerned about, in-
cluding Impossible Foods, Rollin
said.
Earlier this fall, Impossible Foods’
spokeswoman Kelly Sulprizio told
the Capital Press the company’s
work on inventing a dairy-free
milk is “well underway.” Impossible
Foods’ intention, Sulprizio said, is
to create a beverage that tastes like
dairy to oust animal agriculture.
Similarly, the NotCo company,
which counts Amazon founder
Jeff Bezos among its investors, just
launched NotMilk this month in
Whole Foods Markets nationwide.
NotCo’s founders believe “remov-
ing animals from food production
would protect the planet.”
The company’s spokeswoman,
Kate Sherman, told the Capital Press
that NotCo uses artificial intelligence
algorithms to mimic animal-based
milk and combines elements like
pineapple, cabbage, chicory fi-
ber and peas “that a human mind
wouldn’t possibly think of combin-
ing.” NotMilk, Sherman said, is de-
signed to taste, look, smell, feel and
cook like dairy.
In contrast, Pacific Foods offers
both plant-based and animal-de-
rived products.
Rollin said if it were up to him, he
would keep expanding almond milk
but would restrict the term “milk”
to dairy.
Nutrition debate
Dairy farmers say nutrition is at
the heart of the labeling debate.
Numerous health groups, includ-
ing the North American Society for
Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatol-
ogy and Nutrition, say consumers,
especially young children and ado-
lescents who consume plant-based
milks instead of dairy, are at risk of
specific nutritional deficiencies.
Some companies, like Pacific
Foods, say they trust consumers to
be “savvy” and to evaluate nutri-
tional content by reading nutrition
labels.
Others don’t put as much faith in
consumers’ discernment.
According to a 2019 survey by the
pollster Ipsos, 62% of alt-milk-only
buyers believed plant-based milks
offered higher or equivalent protein
quality to dairy. In reality, almond
milk contains 1 or 2 grams of pro-
tein per cup compared to 8 grams in
cow’s milk.
“I don’t believe (consumers) are
aware of the nutritional differences,”
said Anne Goetze, senior director of
nutrition and business development
at the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition
Council.
Alt-milks, she added, often are
highly processed and contain added
sugars.
“Perhaps there’s a place for both. It
doesn’t have to be an either-or prop-
osition. But as a dietitian, it concerns
me that people don’t understand the
differences,” she said.
On the farm
Many farmers say they wish con-
sumers better understood food sys-
tems.
On a misty morning in St. Paul,
Toni Veeman and her husband,
Rodney, trudged through a muddy
yard toward a barn. It had been a
rainy week, and the path smelled of
corn silage and over-ripe vegetables
used as feed.
The farm milks about 400 cows
on a property cupped by sloping
green hills and fringed with gold
and burgundy trees.
Toni Veeman, along with co-run-
ning the dairy, is also a health edu-
cator at Portland Community Col-
lege, where she teaches students to
have a well-rounded diet.
“Everybody should have options,”
she said. “But people should also be
educated about nutrition.”
A cow with big, curious eyes
cocked her head and stretched for-
ward, licking Veeman with her
sandpapery tongue. A smile flooded
Veeman’s face.
The Veemans said they think edu-
cating people about nutrition is just
one piece in the puzzle. Consumers,
they said, need to know that most
farmers take good care of their an-
imals and that with new technolo-
gies, dairy farms are becoming more
sustainable.
The intersection
Some dairy companies are em-
bracing consumer interest in alt-
milks as an opportunity.
Dairy Farmers of America, the
nation’s largest farmer-owned dairy
cooperative, recently started a line of
products called Dairy+ Milk Blends,
which combine 50% plant-based
milk with 50% cow’s milk: for exam-
ple, a half-and-half blend of oat and
dairy milk.
Rachel Kyllo, senior vice pres-
ident of marketing innovation at
DFA, told the Capital Press the
blends are aimed at consumers who
prefer some aspect of plant-based
milks, such as flavor, but still want
the creaminess and nutrition of
dairy.
The product line, Kyllo said, is
doing well among Millennials and
Gen X shoppers.
“We think this kind of break-
through is exactly what our industry
needs to explore,” she said.
New horizons
Conflicts continue in the world
of milks and alt-milks, with leaders
on both sides watching to see what
FDA’s next move will be.
But one thing is clear: Alt-milk is
here to stay.
Experts on all sides told the Capi-
tal Press those who hope to succeed
in either market will need to keep
innovating, educating and engaging
consumers.
Efird, the almond farmer, doesn’t
operate in a sandbox anymore; it’s
the real deal now, and he said one of
the most valuable things he does is
invite people to visit his farm or talk
about his farming process.
“Again, I’m not directly involved
in animal ag,” Efird said. “But I
think animals and plants are both
important, and both kinds of farm-
ers could do better to educate and
connect with consumers.”