Moma oat drinks

Source: Moma 

The porridge brand’s chilled NPD follows a first move into oat drinks in 2020

Moma Foods is looking to build on the success of its ambient oat drink range with the launch of two new chilled variants.

Debuting in Waitrose this week, the Semi and Whole SKUS will be sold in one litre cartons (rsp £1.85). The range will also be stocked on Ocado from March and will launch into Morrisons stores in April.

The brand, which has previously been best known for its lineup of porridge products, described the NPD as “barista-quality drinks” which were “fully foamable” and “non-splitting”, and could also be used over cereal, in smoothies, or drunk straight from the glass as well as in hot drinks.

The NPD, which is fortified with vitamins D, B2 and B12, took two years to develop, with the brand’s in-house oat scientist Ryan Williams trialling more than 250 different recipe combinations before Moma was ready to go to market.

“There were many factors we had to consider to get them right at the same time,” Tom Mercer, founder & CEO of Moma said.

“We wanted to create an oat drink that’s suitable as a standalone beverage, as well as tasting great in hot drinks. It was vital we created the correct consistency that wasn’t either too watery or too thick when drunk on its own.

“To ensure the drink doesn’t split, we had to overcome a lot of factors and trial different types of water hardness and variations and strengths of tea and coffee.”

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The NPD was labelled “a natural area of expansion” for Moma, building on the success of its ambient oat drink range, which launched in 2020.

“Over two million litres of Moma’s oat milk were sold in the first 15 months, and we’ve generated over £2.6 million in grocery EPOS sales in the latest 52 weeks,” Mercer added.

“Our hope is to target consumers who already regularly buy oat milk, as well as potential new customers who spot our oat drink in the chiller alongside their usual purchases and other chilled milk alternatives: it’s essential for us to have a seat at the table.”

The latest activity comes just a couple of months after Irn-Bru owner AG Barr snapped up a 60% stake in the Moma business.

At the time, Mercer said its new backer would give it the financial firepower to launch a big marketing push in 2022, as well as invest more than £1m in an above-the-line campaign to boost awareness of Moma’s oat milks.

Moma was established in 2006 in a railway arch in Deptford, London. The brand also makes instant porridge oat pots and microwave sachets, bircher muesli, and low-sugar granola.