Current Events > Dairy sales to decline. Plant-based milk, on the other hands, skyrockets.

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Over the last decade, interest in the health, environmental and ethical benefits of a vegetarian or vegan diet has helped spawn a proliferation of milk substitutes. The aisles of grocery stores and the counters of coffee shops are now populated with milks made from oats, almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, peas and flax seeds.

You might think we have reached peak plant milk, but you would be wrong.

I dont think there is an end in sight for dairy alternative innovation or at least not anytime soon, said Sydney Olson, a food and drink analyst for Mintel, an international market research firm.

Plant-based foods are a really hot topic at the moment, said David Julian McClements, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has worked as a food scientist for more than 20 years, but in the last five his research has focused entirely on plant-based foods, he said, because that is one of the main trends in the food industry at the moment for sustainability, ethical and health reasons.

The pandemic has also led more people to cook at home, using both dairy and plant milks. But Ms. Olson, the food and drink analyst, said that while sales of dairy milk are expected to return to its prepandemic trajectory of decline, nondairy milk will continue to ride the surge of interest in plant-based diets.

Sales of plant milk in the United States totaled $2.5 billion at the end of 2020, accounting for 15 percent of all retail sales of milk, and 35 percent of the larger market for plant-based foods. By the end of 2026, Ms. Olson said, sales of dairy alternatives are projected to make up 30 percent of all milk sales. Much of that growth, Ms. Purcell said, will come from small-batch producers.

Ripple and almond milk for me. Use ripple for when I want a creamy substitute, plus it has no sugar. Almond milk for oatmeal.

Id be open to trying the vanilla almond milk

I work in a dairy department and almond and oat milk have both been on the rise at a crazy pace.

Ripple is super good. Really high in protein.

And peas are really sustainable too.

Oak milk for me. Glad alternatives are getting more popular, hopefully will drive the price down.

As someone who used to be dispassionately adverse to plant-based alternatives, I recently made the switch to Silk and won't be going back anytime soon. Almond milk tastes better, has a longer shelf life, and is way easier on my digestive tract.

I don't drink milk in general but casual reminder that the actual dairy industry is cringe about trying to block plant alternatives from being called milk based on the fact it isn't milk. This is ignoring the fact coconut milk has been called coconut milk since forever.

except cheese. non-dairy cheese just isn't there yet.

My kids both have dairy intolerances so we dont use much. Soy milk tastes awful and I try to avoid the nut milks. So that leaves oat but Im pretty sure the gums they use in those dont agree with me.

My kids both have dairy intolerances so we dont use much. Soy milk tastes awful and I try to avoid the nut milks. So that leaves oat but Im pretty sure the gums they use in those dont agree with me.

I'll never understand

Um... lactose intolerance?

And many people get over their lactose intolerance by drinking dairy based milk, eating dairy based foods like cheese.

People's bodies evolve and adapt.

Um... lactose intolerance?

A lot of people cannot digest milk properly, hence the bloating, constipation, and diarrhea.

It's good that there is variety. People can drink plant milk and bypass all the nasty side effects of conventional milk.

Well obviously. My wife is a bit lactose intolerant and gets alternate milks. But for people who can choose, I don't understand their taste buds.

Well obviously. My wife is a bit lactose intolerant and gets alternate milks. But for people who can choose, I don't understand their taste buds.

A lot of people cannot digest milk properly, hence the bloating, constipation, and diarrhea.

I drank dairy milk for 30 years and never fully adapted to it because like a majority of human adults, I do not have lactase persistence. It only got worse as I got older but I was indoctrinated by a lifetime of dairy propaganda to just deal with the consequences because milk was "vital for optimal health."

Within a few weeks of no dairy, digestive problems I had for as long as I could remember finally cleared up. Even if I hadn't stayed fully plant-based, I would have never gone back to dairy. It's not worth it.