Will oat milk take off in low to middle-income countries?

As the global popularity of alternative milks grows, Joseph Benavides of Monkey Co Coffee Roasters discusses the challenges oat milk faces as it expands into developing countries.

When Rickard Öste developed oat milk in the 1990s, he was likely unaware of the revolution he had started. His company, Oatly, is now a billion-dollar household name in the West, and oat milk has quickly become the plant-based alternative of choice.

Sales of the popular, non-dairy substitute almost doubled between 2019 and 2020. And, it’s not only vegans who are driving its popularity – people drink oat and other plant-based milks for a variety of reasons.

In the US, the consumption of cow’s milk has reduced drastically over growing health concerns. Furthermore, dairy has a larger carbon footprint in terms of water and land, as well as greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, an estimated 68% of the global population is lactose intolerant. Alongside lactose-free milks, plant-based alternatives offer a wider variety of flavours and textures.

The quality of these have only improved in recent years thanks to advances in milk frothing technology – such as Heylo’s milk module – that regulates the temperature of milks and doesn’t add any extra water. This has helped contribute to a surge in the availability of alt-milks in coffee shops around the world.

For roasters and café owners, it has become essential to offer plant-based milk alternatives. If they are not available, these establishments risk losing a large chunk of their customer base.

The growing popularity of oat milk

While soy milk was the original alternative, joining the mainstream coffee scene in the 2000s, oat milk is most common on coffee shop menus. Compared to soy and almond, oat milk is cheaper to produce and side steps ‌nut allergies.

The number of oat milk brands has grown in the last decade, however, this isn’t exclusive to the West. Notably, in 2020, Asia-Pacific held the largest revenue share of the alt-milk globally.

Joseph is chief roaster at Monkey Co Coffee Roasters in Cebu, Philippines, and has noted that local supermarket shelves have seen an increase in alt-milk brands over the last two years. Initially, they were imported brands in warehouse stores.

“This year, a couple of local distributors are bringing them in,