First, deep breath.
Now…
There are many different types of milk available, including soy, peas, almonds, cashews, potatoes, hemp, peanuts, coconut, rice and flax. Other options include banana, “plant,” pistachios, hazelnuts, quinoa.
To further leave you frustrated, within each of these non-dairy options, you will find a variety of producers who are all advertising that their products are superior to whatever dreck is offered by the competitors.
In the last five years, non-dairy milk has experienced a huge growth. The Enterprise Analysis Firm published a report in 2019 that predicted the global milk substitutes market (non-dairy “milk”) would grow to $27.17 Billion by 2022, with an annual growth rate of 11.3%.
The dairy industry has been thrown into disarray by this development. Consultant associations have petitioned the federal government, requesting that any milk product that is not from cows (see long checklist above) be prohibited from claiming to be milk.
According to the latest USDA figures, people are consuming 26 percent less dairy milk. From 1975 to 2018, they ate an extra 34 percent of cheese and nearly 21 percent more butter.
It is not as if People have completely abandoned milk.
Client Studies conducted a survey in 2018 that revealed “that while about two-thirds of People, or 68% say they always or normally buy cow’s dairy, 18% buy both cow’s and vegan milk equally and 10% say that they usually or always buy plant-based or vegan milk”.
The same survey revealed some interesting insights as to why so many plant-based milk alternatives have been flooded onto the market.