Alpro rides high as consumers reach for plant-based milk

Dairy alternatives have hit the big time. For proof, look no further than The Grocer’s 2014 list of Britain’s 100 Biggest Grocery Brands. For the first time, it featured a dairy-free brand - Alpro, at number 100.

Expect a higher ranking next year, the brand says. “More than 4.7 million households now buy plant-based food and drink regularly; we expect this trend to continue as consumers become more aware of what is in their food,” adds a spokeswoman, pointing to the brand’s 14% value growth over the past year [Nielsen 52 w/e 26 April 2014].

Other brands have also done well: the entire dairy alternatives sector is now worth £74.5m, up 16.3% year on year [Kantar]. Oat-based milk alternative Oatly, which relaunches this month with revamped packaging, reports strong growth, while Arla’s Lactofree range continues to expand.In November it launched a mature Cheddar product.

Desserts are an increasingly busy area for dairy free, particularly for coconut-based products. Last July, yoghurt brand CoYo launched a range of coconut-based ‘ice creams’. A month earlier, Gü founder James Averdieck bought a controlling stake in ice cream alternative brand Bessant & Drury, and this April he launched dairy-free yoghurt brand The Coconut Collaborative.