Which Oat Milk Is The Best? 12 UK Milks Rated
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Wondering which oat milk is the best? I’ve rated 12 of the most widely available oat milk brands in the UK, both in terms of taste and ethics, to help you find the best milk for you.
We made the switch to oat milk for all our dairy needs quite some years ago now. In our quest to find the best oat milk, over the years, we have tried just about every oat milk going. I’ve found that some are better than others in terms of taste, and many have less-than-desirable ethical practices.
So, let me run you through the twelve most widely available oat milk brands in the UK. I’ll let you know what I think about the taste, and look into the ethics behind each brand, to help you decide which oat milk is the best for you.
Maybe grab a hot beverage – perhaps a plastic-free cup of tea – because it’s going to be a big one!
Why Oat Milk?
First off, you might be wondering why I’m focusing on oat milk and not other non-dairy alternatives. The main reason is that whilst non-dairy alternatives can be made from a variety of crops, some are more problematic than others.
Almond and rice are water-thirsty crops. Almonds alone require more water than any other dairy alternative, consuming 130 pints of water to produce a single glass of almond milk. That’s an awful lot of water.
Coconut milk also has its problems. As the demand for coconut milk has grown, it has led to deforestation and the exploitation of monkeys. That may sound surprising, but a PETA investigation found that monkeys were kept chained, abusively trained, and forced to climb trees to pick coconuts that are used to make coconut milk.
Oats, on the other hand, don’t have the same issues attached to them. They tend to be grown in cooler climates such as the northern US, Canada, and Europe. This means they don’t tend to be associated with deforestation in developing countries. They don’t need as much water to grow, and they definitely don’t require the use of monkeys to harvest them! Oats it is.
As well as ethics, there’s also the food waste aspect. I spent a lot of time trying to find vegan milk that didn’t curdle in my coffee. After trying heaps of different types of plant-based milk, I found that due to the higher protein levels in oat milk, it doesn’t curdle in coffee. Plus, I think it tastes the best.
The UK Oat Milk Brands Rated
Now let’s focus on the oat milk brands. I’ve tried as many as I could find that are available locally to me. When I find a new one, I add it to the list, so it’s ever-evolving!
Alpro
Alpro may be best known for its soya milk, but it has branched out into oat milk. Here’s how it fares in terms of taste and ethics:
Taste
I have tried a few of Alpro’s oat milk offerings, and it’s not a winner.
Alpro Oat Milk is too thin and too sweet for my taste. I can tolerate it in cereal or porridge, just about. However, in tea and coffee, it’s a no-go for me. Meanwhile, the Alpro Barista Oat Milk was way too sweet, and I expected a lot more creaminess to it than what it offered.
Ethics
In terms of ethics, Alpro is owned by Danone, one of the major dairy players. According to its website, Danone is the number one brand in the world for dairy product sales. It also has a pretty sizeable share in the bottled water market – with brands such as Evian and Volvic making up part of the Danone bottled water portfolio.
Let’s just say it’s an uncomfortable contradiction, buying oat milk (particularly if you are buying oat milk as an environmental choice), knowing that you are supporting big dairy AND the bottled water industry.
Aldi
Aldi changes the brand name of its oat milk quite frequently. At the time of writing (February 2026), it currently offers Acti-Leaf Oat Barista Style oat milk, but I don’t know why the page on Aldi’s website displays a picture of a jar of apple sauce!
Taste
I didn’t have high expectations from Aldi. The last one I tried from Aldi was a basic oat milk that contained only oats and water, and wasn’t fortified with any vitamins or minerals. It was much too thin and watery for my tastes, so it wasn’t one I regularly bought.
When I headed to my local Aldi to buy some of its barista oat milk to try, a person was in the UHT milk section stocking their trolley with heaps of cartons of this milk, which I took to be a good sign. I bought two cartons and headed home to make a hot drink.
This milk is good. So good, in fact, that it’s now my top budget-friendly oat milk. It’s fortified with Vitamin B12, Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), and Vitamin D, and tastes lovely in tea and coffee, as well as in my morning bowl of porridge.
Ethics
In terms of ethics, it’s not a great picture. Ethical Consumer has scored Aldi 3.5 out of 20 in its ethical supermarket league table – marking them down due to a host of factors in its People, Environment, Animals & Politics categories. In 2021, Mercy For Animals also uncovered animal abuse at one of Aldi’s chicken suppliers.
However, Aldi did come third best in Oxfam’s 2022 human rights ratings of UK supermarkets. This is part of Oxfam’s Behind the Barcodes campaign, which it launched to expose the economic exploitation faced by millions of small-scale farmers and workers in food supply chains.
Aldi has also been working to reduce the volume of plastic packaging it uses. It’s trialling refill systems. Plus, it is working to cut down on plastic packaging – with plastic removed from drinks packaging, as well as making changes to its toilet rolls to make them greener.
Asda
Asda sells its own-brand of oat milk – offering both fresh and long-life (UHT) varieties. Here’s what I made of these:
Taste
Asda’s own brand UHT oat milk is, for me, a good budget oat milk. Not too thick, not too thin, it has the perfect consistency for tea, coffee, and cereal. It has a great taste – not too sweet, and not too overpowering. What’s more, it’s fortified with calcium, vitamin D2, vitamin B12, and iodine.
Asda’s own brand of fresh oat milk is, on the other hand, a complete abomination. How Asda can get its UHT milk so right, but its fresh milk so wrong, is beyond me. I think it tastes like a wax crayon. Oat milk should never taste like wax crayons. Whoever has made it clearly hasn’t tasted it. Avoid at all costs.
Ethics
In terms of ethics, Asda was owned by US behemoth Walmart for 21 years. In 2020, a majority stake was bought by UK-based Issa Brothers, the billionaire owners of the Lancashire-based petrol forecourt firm EG Group, and private equity company TDR Capital. Walmart retains a minority stake in the business.
Ethical Consumer highlighted several ethical issues at Asda under Walmart ownership. From slavery in the Walmart supply chain to accusations of discrimination by Asda employees.
Ethical Consumer noted that the new owners immediately incorporated the company in Jersey, one of the worst tax havens worldwide. This left Ethical Consumer labelling Asda as a likely user of tax avoidance strategies.
In 2022, Oxfam also ranked as the worst supermarket for workers’ rights in its “Supermarket Scorecard” human rights analysis, so it seems there hasn’t been much improvement under the new ownership.
Califia Farms
Califia Farms is one that readers have been asking for some time, so it was high time I updated this post.
Taste
I really like the taste of Califia Farms Barista Blend. It tastes quite mild and creamy, and doesn’t curdle in hot drinks. No other notes!
Ethics
When it comes to ethics, Califia Farms is a fully vegan, and there’s no controversial parent company behind it.
One thing that might give you pause is that, in 2020, the Qatar Investment Authority (the QIA) took part in a funding round, and took a minority stake in Califia Farms.
The country’s sovereign wealth fund was set up in 2005 to invest Qatar’s substantial oil and natural gas revenues around the world. So if you are switching to oat milk to lessen your carbon footprint, then you might find that fossil fuel connection is uncomfortable, even though Califia Farms own operations are fully plant-based.
The QIA invests across many sectors and countries. This includes a multi-billion-dollar investment platform with Russia, funding projects in areas such as mineral extraction and technology.
At the same time, Qatar’s domestic laws criminalise same-sex relationships and restrict gender expression. While these points have no bearing on Califia Farms operations or values, they are wider associations that you may wish to bear in mind.
Jord
Curious about Jord? I’ve done some digging:
Taste
I haven’t been able to try out Jord Oat Milk yet, simply because I haven’t been able to find it in my local shops. However, a few readers have told me that it is their preferred oat milk, taste-wise. As soon as I find it I’ll give it a go, but in the meantime, do take the word of fellow readers that it does taste good!
Ethics
While I personally haven’t tried Jord’s oat milk, I do know that Jord is owned by a company called Arla. Arla is a huge Danish-Swedish multinational dairy company. In fact, according to Wikipedia, it’s the fourth-largest dairy company in the world. So if you’re looking for an oat milk that doesn’t support the dairy industry, then it’s not Jord.
An article published on Unearthed – Greenpeace’s journalism project – in 2021 linked Arla’s cow milk suppliers to catastrophic deforestation in the Brazilian rainforest.
Meanwhile, in 2022, Arla ran a campaign called “Don’t Cancel The Cow” – fighting back against people ditching milk and cheese over climate concerns. It’s an odd position for a company offering vegan alternatives to take.
Lidl
Budget supermarket Lidl sells its own-brand oat milk, under its vegan and vegetarian Vemondo brand. I’ve found some of the Vemondo products a bit hit or miss, so here’s how the oat milk fares:
Taste
Lidl’s Unsweetened Oat Milk is quite thin and watery, and not particularly creamy. In terms of taste, it’s not sweet, which is a big plus point for me. It’s acceptable in tea. However, because of its thin consistency, it did not make for a pleasant cup of coffee or bowl of cereal.
If you are a tea drinker looking for basic milk at a more affordable price, then this is a good option, otherwise, I would avoid this one.
Ethics
Ethics-wise, it’s a mixed picture. Ethical Consumer Magazine research has highlighted several ethical issues with Lidl. These include issues under the banner of climate change, habitats and resources, pollution, human rights, workers’ rights, anti-social finance, animal rights, controversial technologies, political activities, and factory farming.
However, in 2022, Which? Magazine ranked Lidl as the UK’s most sustainable supermarket, alongside Waitrose. So who really knows!
MOMA
Want to know more about MOMA Barista Oat Milk? Here’s the full run-down:
Taste
I’m a big fan of MOMA oat milk. It’s pleasant tasting – not overpowering – and makes a perfect cup of tea and coffee. It doesn’t curdle in coffee, and overall, it’s one of my favourites.
Ethics
I was impressed until I did a little digging into MOMA. MOMA’s porridge is made with dairy products, so MOMA is not a dairy-free company.
Meanwhile, in December 2021, it was announced that Scottish soft drinks manufacturer AG Barr was purchasing the Moma brand. AG Barr produces bottled water – the Strathmore branded water – as part of its portfolio of drinks, which isn’t a great environmental choice to support.
It has been announced that AG Barr is scrapping Strathmore bottled water in 2025/26, so there is some change on the horizon though.
Morrisons
Morrisons offers both UHT and sweetened own-brand oat milk. Here’s what I think:
Taste
Morrisons’ own-brand UHT oat milk is high up there in my opinion. It’s got a good creaminess to it and the perfect consistency. It’s not too sweet, and it’s enriched with calcium, Vitamin E, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B2, and Vitamin D.
Go for the long life, rather than the fresh stuff. We did not enjoy their fresh oat milk. At all. It’s similar to Asda’s fresh oat milk in that it tastes of wax crayon. It’s genuinely horrific!
Ethics
As far as supermarkets go, I quite like Morrisons. It seems quite progressive when it comes to plastic packaging and tackling food waste. In 2019, it was named the UK’s most environmentally responsible retailer.
However, in 2022, Which? Magazine ranked it sixth best for its sustainability measures, and Oxfam ranked it 7th best in terms of human rights, so it’s clear that Morrisons has some way to go.
Minor Figures
Minor Figures Barista Oat Milk is another oat milk that I have tried in my quest for the best oat milk.
Taste
I do like this one. This milk is made in the UK. It doesn’t separate in coffee. It’s got a good consistency. It’s got a good taste, and it is enriched with calcium. The only thing I don’t find stands up is the claim from Minor Figures that it is foamable. The milk just does not give a good foam compared to Oatly Barista – it’s a much thinner milk.
Ethics
With regards to ethics, in 2019, Minor Figures sold a near 20% stake in their company to an anonymous US-based private investment fund. Who this private investment is from, Minor Figures is staying tight-lipped about it, other than the fact that the investor has several investments in the plant-based space. What they may also invest in is unknown.
In 2022, Minor Figures became part-owned by Danone – the dairy and bottled water giant. Whilst Danone is a minority investor, it means Minor Figures can no longer be classed as a fully vegan company.
Oatly
Oatly has a few different types of oat milk available. In my opinion, the best one is Oatly Barista, so I’ve reviewed this one here:
Taste
Oatly Barista is a nice creamy milk. I find I need to use a lot less of this milk in my beverages to get them to my desired colour (pretty milky!). The taste doesn’t overpower my tea or coffee, and it makes a mean frothy coffee.
Ethics
Ethics-wise, it’s complicated. In 2020, Oatly sold a stake in the company to Blackstone, a private equity group. However, Less Waste Laura linked Blackstone to a controversial Brazilian infrastructure investment that has been accused of contributing to deforestation in the Amazon.
Blackstone has denied having any links to deforestation. However, notwithstanding that accusation, Blackstone’s CEO Stephen Schwarzman has been a prominent Wall Street supporter of Donald Trump, donating millions of dollars to Trump’s political campaigns. It certainly leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Provamel
Here are my thoughts and findings on ProvameL:
Taste
Provamel milk is not my milk of choice. Weak and watery, it makes a pretty insipid cup of tea. It did not fare well in coffee either. It wouldn’t be one I would reach for at the supermarket again.
Ethics
Whilst all of Provamel’s products are organic and GMO-free, Provamel has since 2016 been owned by Danone. This ownership is troubling, as Danone is one of the biggest retailers of dairy products and bottled water.
Rude Health
Want to know about Rude Health Oat Milk? Here’s what I thought:
Taste
Rude Health is another oat milk that I struggled with the texture and consistency of. It’s just too thin and takes a lot of milk to get my tea to the desired colour. I seem to go through a lot more milk when I use this brand. This isn’t great when it’s one of the more expensive oat milks around.
Ethics
In 2019, PepsiCo acquired a minority 9% stake in Rude Health. Whilst this minority share means PepsiCo won’t have much sway in Rude Health’s operations, PepsiCo has in the past been accused of human rights violations. In 2020, PepsiCo was also named as one of the top three plastic polluters in the world.
The Ethics Of Other Brands I’ve Not Tried
I’ve only been able to try brands I can find in my local shops. There are a few other brands that readers often ask me about that I haven’t been able to try. Rather than exclude them from this guide, I thought I could shed light on their ethics:
- Plenish – this oat milk brand is owned by Britvic. Britvic has a franchise bottling agreement with PepsiCo. This means Britvic is responsible for the production, distribution, marketing, and sales of all of PepsiCo’s soft drink brands in Great Britain until 2040. As PepsiCo is one of the worst plastic polluters, it’s not a great link.
- Glebe Farm – it’s very refreshing that I have nothing bad to report about Glebe Farm. It’s family owned and run independent business, and doesn’t appear to be investor-backed, so it doesn’t appear to have any links to anything dodgy. It’s also fully vegan and uses British-grown oats.
Are There Other Oat Milk Options?
If you want to opt out of buying pre-made oat milk, one option would be to make your own oat milk. I’ve not had much success in doing so. It’s a bit of a faff and can be a bit slimy, and it splits in my coffee. However, once I find a good technique, I’ll be sure to share it.
Another option is to look out for milk delivery in your area. Whilst not available in any shops or supermarkets, you can get Oato fresh oat milk delivered to your door in certain areas.
This milk is made in the UK and comes delivered to your door in returnable glass bottles. I tried it out for a little while and found it tastes lovely and doesn’t curdle or split in tea or coffee. We only stopped as our local milk delivery company kept delivering too much, despite trying to pause or reduce our order, and we ended up with a lot of waste.
In terms of ethics, Oato says, “We’re mainly a self-funded company, growing organically. However, we have a few minor shareholders that were friends who wanted to help us get started. We don’t have any institutional investors backing us.”
I sometimes had issues in the summer with keeping my oat milk deliveries cool, but I found a useful milk hack, in case you have the same problem.
Which Oat Milk Should I Buy?
As you’ve read, there are many issues in the oat milk industry. From big dairy to big investors with dubious portfolios, to anonymous investors, and big supermarket chains with dubious supply chains.
If you’re wondering what oat milk you should buy, then, personally, I would buy whatever oat milk is easily available to you at the price point you can afford, and the taste you enjoy. Why do I think this? Well, what I think this article highlights is the limitation of green consumerism.
More people are switching from dairy to non-dairy alternatives because of concerns about climate change. And yes, this undoubtedly helps the environment. However, green consumerism on its own won’t save us from climate change.
When a green product that we buy is used to possibly help fund the dairy industry, the bottled water industry, other non-green investments, or to line the pockets of shareholders, then green consumerism cannot be the answer to climate change.
This is not to say that I don’t think that green consumerism doesn’t work at all. I just think it needs to be coupled with green activism to bring about systems change.
Elizabeth Cline addresses this extensively in this article for Atmos – where she writes: “We must not mistake Ethical Consumption—a private act—for political power or organized, collective social change that benefits everyone. When we retreat into our Ethical Consumer bubbles, some of the most powerful institutions in our society get a free pass to run roughshod over people who don’t have the market choices we do“.
So drink oat milk. But where possible, you could also campaign for better policies and regulations that align with your ethics.
PS: Whilst we’re on the subject of oat milk and hot beverages, you might also like my articles on is there plastic in your tea. And to help reduce food waste, here’s my article on freezing oat milk.
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For sustainability, Oato is champion because it uses regular reusable glass milk bottles for delivery. (They do also sell their oat milk in supermarkets such as Sainsburys, Waitrose, and Tesco in the recyclable plastic bottles). So as you liked it and thought it tasted lovely Wendy, I’m surprised you haven’t given it a proper rating. Give it another go please !
I’d love to give it another go, but it got so stressful! I think I ended up with 18 bottles at one point, because of issues with the online ordering platform with my local milk delivery company. Every time I paused delivery, they sent more! I’ll keep an eye out in the supermarket though, and next time I’ll update the article with a wee look into their ethics too, promise!
I’m so sad to learn about Oatly! Their cartons are so playful that I’d just imagined the whole operation was run by elves. To learn that any part of my purchase price goes to a Trump-loving CEO makes my stomach turn. Fare the well, playful Oatly elves…
I know, it’s quite sad. I also should have added to the article that a few years ago Oatly launched a legal battle against Glebe Farm oat milk – a smaller, independent brand. To me it came across as bullying, and Oatly quite rightly lost.
Really interesting as we have just started drinking oat milk. We use Overherd as it advertises no nasty added ingredients and as a powder the reduced packaging clinched it for me. I’d love to know the ethics behind the company.
Thank you for this post.
Glad to hear you’re enjoying Overherd, I really struggled with it. It’s a bit too skimmed milk tasting for my liking, but it seems like there are lots of fans. Next time I update I will definitely look into Overherd ethics – watch this space!!
Hi Wendy, thanks for the good article as always. I’m thinking switching to oat milk so this is really helpful. I guess I’m going for Glebe Farm, secondly Morrisons.
Just a little note that I believe the word “anti-social finance” is duplicated at the section of Lidl’s ethicality. :P
Ha ha, thanks for pointing that out Angie, I must have really wanted to get that point across!! I’ll go in and amend that ASAP.
I’d definitely recommend trying Overheard for all the reasons Natasha says. It uses organic oats is fortified with calcium, is priced very competitively and you can make it up to your preferred consistency. And is delivered to your door. Also brilliant for travel, taking on camping trips etc.
Thanks Carolyn, I really wanted to love it for those reasons, but I personally wasn’t a fan of it (too watery at the recommeded powder to water ratio, and then not economical to use double the powder to get a consistency similar to barista milk), but it’s great to see that there are so many Overherd fans! Next time I update this post I will look into their ethics.
Hi,
Thanks for this informative post. I have just switched to Overherd and am really enjoying it although I have been using it just for coffee and tea so far. You buy it as a powder and make it up as you need it so there are no preservatives. Also, as most oat milk is made up of water (90%) I think, it’s really a great idea for the environment to not transport all that extra weight. Works for me and I highly recommend a starter kit of theirs to try it out.
Me too! I find it to be the best! Organic oats too :)
Thanks Natasha! I tried out Overherd some time ago. I really wanted to love it for the reasons you mentioned, but when I made up the recommended amount it was so watery – like skimmed milk, and for me it was really disappointing in hot drinks. To get it to a better consistency of barista milks, Overherd told me to use double the amount, but this really bumped up the cost to a point where it wasn’t economical for us to use.
Hi! Thanks for all the great research you’ve been doing. Just wanted to tip you off on Jord – less than 12 months ago, it was an organic oat drink with no additives or anything, and it tasted great. Then they changed to non organic and added a bunch of other things, and I haven’t bought them since. But judging from the following comment I found on Reddit I’d say my suspicions of it going downhill are confirmed:
“Just had a carton of the new stuff. Doesn’t taste right. It’s more watery and it has a weird kinda mild flat sour aftertaste. It used to taste so clean. Actually, it tastes a bit like ready brek.
I’d say almost all the people recommending it would be based on how the milk tasted prior to the relaunch. Just to give you the added knowledge. Feel free to use any of that if you want to fill out the Jord section!
Thanks so much Laurie, I appreciate the heads up! I still haven’t found Jord locally but that’s so disappointing to hear the changes. I won’t be going out of my way to try it!!
Hello! Another vote for Glebe Farm – it’s organic, UK grown and manufactured, and entirely gluten-free. It’s also independently owned by a brother and sister team. I think it’s fairly easy to get hold of (Morrisons sells it at the moment) and best of all – it’s super tasty! (No horse in this race, honest – it’s just quite hard to fault…)
Really appreciate all the digging you’ve done on this motley crew – I had no idea about Minor Figures…!
M&S sell several varieties of oat milk, ‘Whole’, ‘Semi’ and ‘Barista’. I like the ‘Whole’ type. I think they also do a chocolate version. I also like the Co-op Gro oat milk, which I mentioned in an earlier comment, but it’s still the case that the supplies are very erratic. I tried Califia which is very nice, but was a bit shocked to find that it’s made in California (should have guessed from the name!) When oats are grown so widely in the British Isles, it’s crazy to import an oat product from the far west of the United States, especially when the oats are probably grown a long way from California.
Thanks Maria! I haven’t tried the M&S ones but I will definitely look out for them! And I STILL haven’t been able to find Gro in my local Co-op! Thanks for the heads up about Califia. I’ve just checked my Califia carton that’s in my fridge and it says on the bottom of the carton in a black panel that it’s made in the EU from EU grown oats, so sounds like things have changed since you last checked, which is good!
That’s interesting. I think they should make it clearer that it’s produced in Europe, and I hope it’s produced in Ireland as they grow lovely oats and they’re our closest EU neighbour. Anyway I’ll reconsider Califia now.
I make my own which I agree is a bit hit and miss. It’s not very good in coffee, it doesn’t split but is a bit thin, However its ideal for making porridge and adding to smoothies.
Interesting to hear about your homemade oat milk endeavours Michael! If I hit on anything that works well in coffee I’ll be sure to add it here!
I always drink Sainsbury’s fresh oatmilk at £1.60 a litre. Good body and taste, not too creamy in tea, doesn’t curdle in coffee. Prefer it to Oatly, Gro or Provitamil. But I don’t know where it is sourced.
Jord is owned by Arla, and according to Arla, they are owned by farmers? How does that stack up?
I’m not sure how that stacks up at all. Arla doesn’t mention Jord on its website, and the only mention on the Jord website is a tiny bit of text on the website’s footer that says Arla Foods. There’s nothing on Jord’s website about being owned by farmers either. It seems they are trying to keep Jord at arms length – perhaps to keep Jord’s links to the dairy industry to the absolute minimum.
i hate these big companies that produce products that abuse nature and people. 5* Glebe Farm’s PureOaty We are also the UK’s most sustainable oat milk plant and farm with the lowest carbon footprint. Im wondering if we can stop transporting millions of tons of water around. Can anyone do a comparison of oat milk powder please. The creamier the better does it curdle in coffee? love and rage. extiction rebellion
What an interesting article. Thank you. I use oat milk exclusively and Oatly barista ticks the boxes for me.
I was interested to see that ikea now sell their own oat milk for coffee. After some digging I’ve found that it is made by Danish company Natruli, who appear to make only vegan products.
I was unable to find much out about the company though.
It’s certainly an extremely close standard to Oatly and priced slightly cheaper. I’d be interested to know if anyone knows any further info on the company. Many thanks again for your fantastic articles.
A real moral compass in a green washed world.
Thanks Jane! Interesting to hear about Ikea’s oat milk. If I find out anything more about Natruli, I’ll be sure to let you know!
I just wanted to suggest Glebe Farm’s PureOaty (‘Barista’ version or Creamy & Enriched’). We make oat milk right here in the UK (on a farm in Cambridgeshire) using 100% gluten-free oats (no cross-contamination) that we’ve grown ourselves. Unlike our major competitors we do not make our oat milk from a concentrated oat syrup or base – there’s no added sugar – and no preservatives and chemicals. We are also the UK’s most sustainable oat milk plant and farm with the lowest carbon footprint. We got sued by Oatly last year and we won – so if you want to support a British underdog with sustainable credentials and ethical values then I’d like to put us forward :-)
I’m not sure I agree that just because an Private Equity firm with some other questionable investments has invested into one of these brands (e.g. in Oatly’s case) that it should put you off buying their products. If anything, buying these products would send a good signal to the investors that people care about environmental products and therefore encourage them to pump more money into this kind of product – which then helps with the overall growth of this market.
Imagine if everyone boycotts Oatly because of this, Oatly then collapse and the investors decide that it’s a better idea to invest their money into other types of business. Other investors also see the failure of Oatly as a sign that dairy free milk isn’t a good investment, so this then means other brands struggle to secure any investment and grow.
In my mind, investors are just a means to an end. They inject money into a company to allow them to scale up and succeed. So long as they aren’t putting directors onto the board of Oatly trying to encourage them to sacrifice their morality for more profits, I don’t think it really matters too much who the investor is.
are you being paid by this company? if not I think you are dead wrong. these massive companies are destroying our planet and worse they don’t care about people. PLEASE start caring about people!!!!!
I struggle to believe that any private equity company does more than make a profit from any investment – isn’t that their raison d’etre? We hear time and again of brands that struggled to make a profit, were bought by private equity, managed to pay shareholders a huge dividend due to ‘profits’ and then whoops 3 years later the company collapses because they couldn’t service the huge loan debts taken out by private equity management. Very happy to be proven wrong though….
Brilliant article Wendy, thank you!
I would never buy from the Swedish giant Oatly because they are bullies! Last summer they sued a small uk farm which produces an oat milk called Pure Oaty – claiming trade mark infringement. The judge found against Oatly. The judge stated that the similarities in the packaging were of the most general kind. Imagine the stress Oatly put this brother and sister farmers through!
I was buying Jord but have switched to Plenish. Will you let us have your thoughts on these in the future please?
Best wishes for 2022!
I heard of the claim against Pure Oaty – so much stress, but so glad that sense prevailed. I will keep an eye out for Jord and Plenish – I hadn’t heard of these brands before, and will definitely update when I can.
I have been looking around at oat milk for a while and then a feed came up from my local deli for locally farmed oat milk in a glass bottle. It’s not cheap but I think that makes you use it wisely. Result!
Brilliant, I really think local is the way to do it if you can!
I see back in December 2020 I was recommending M&S oat milk. Since then the Co-op have launched their own brand GRO oat milk at only 79p per litre which is excellent quality for the low price. The only problem can be that the supply (at least in my local shops in north London) seems to be very erratic.
I didn’t know the Co-Op has their own oat milk – that is good news – especially at that price point. My local Co-Op doesn’t stock it – it’s just a little branch – but will definitely keep my eye out next time I’m in one of their bigger stores.
We switched to oat milk a few months ago and have tried almost every brand to find the right one. Like you, we found Oatly and Califia barista versions the best. I would consider the glass bottles, but I wonder how the cleaning and sterilisation of the glass bottles impacts the environment compared to waxed cartons? Its a conundrum for sure.
Hmm, I’m not too sure Anita, I’m not aware of a study that compares the two. What I do know is that Tetra Pak cartons are only 75% paper. The rest of the package contains layers of aluminum and polyethylene plastic, and because of that they are not always accepted for recycling. I would like to think that cleaning/sterilising reusable and returnable bottles would have a lower impact but there’s always room for surprise!
I’d be interested to know your thoughts on Jord. It’s in a lot of UK supermarkets at £1.80 per litre in a few different flavours but seems to be regularly on sale for £1. However, it’s a product of Arla, a big dairy company so I guess some of the same comments will apply as with Danone for Alpro?
I’ve not seen that one Simon, but I’ll definitely look out for it – thanks for the heads up! And yes, if it’s owned by a dairy company then ditto with the Danone and Alpro comments.
I buy bags of Overherd oat milk powder that you mix with water at home, so you can make it as creamy as you want and you end up wasting less because you just make up as much as you need. The bags are great to use for food storage. It’s a subscription service which you can change as necessary. It’s at the more expensive end of the price range but less wastage balances it out a bit. I don’t know anything about the company but would be interested to find out.
Great to read! We’ve just gotten into oat milk in our household and our guts feel better already. We’ve been buying Oatly, which we especially love in our tea, but wonderful to read about other brands. So annoyed about the Trump connection though. Ugggghhhhhh.
Thanks for doing the hard work and the research for us!
My pleasure Carolina!
Thank you Wendy, for the enormous amount of time and effort you put in to gather all this important information. The rest of us would have no idea where to start. We appreciate it
Anni
Thanks so much for your kind words Anni – I really appreciate it!
Hi Wendy! Thanks for this info. Have you tried Plenish Oat Milk? We switched to Plenish from Oatly after reading about the Blackstone story. Also really happy to have found an oat milk with no veg oil :)
I’ve not heard of Plenish, but thank you for the tip! I’ll look out for that one! We’ve just this week switched to Oato, which I’m loving. The milkman delivers it to our door in returnable glass bottles! It does have oil in it though, so might not be for everyone.
Why doesn’t this article mention Bradley nook farm and the other reformed dairy farmers making oat milk? https://en.refarmd.com/
Hi Kate, I live near Edinburgh, so wasn’t aware of Bradley Nook Farm. It looks like they just deliver in the Midlands area?
Blackstone is also a deeply problematic player in rental housing. I highly recommend the documentary PUSH, which follows the work of Leilani Farha, the past UN special rapporteur on the right to housing, to anyone who wants to learn more about Blackstone’s interests in housing.
I drink Califia. They have an oat milk and and oat drink. I like both, and tend to land on the oat drink which I think is designed more for smoothies and breakfast than drinks but its possibly slightly sweeter and creamier so I prefer that in my coffee. It pips the taste of Oatly in my opinion and also doesn’t settle very quickly. Before lockdown I could only find it in the UHT aisle, now its moved to fridge aisle and it as prominent as Oatly and has had offers so I think there’s a big push to up it standing in the market. I’m not sure about it’s green credentials. It’s obviously trying to do some good stuff though I’m not able to analyse like you would. Also not sure about its investors but as you say, none of them seem to be that brilliant so I’ll stick with it as my preferred option. Would be interested to know if you’ve got any dirt on them, though!!
Sorry for the late reply! I don’t have any dirt on Califia, but if I do I’ll update the article! I haven’t actually tried it but will look out for it!
I really like M&S Plant Kitchen Oat Drink, although reading reviews for it on the Ocado website, I see that some others find it a little too sweet. It has no added sugar. It does have added calcium, iodine, vitamin D and vitamin B12.