With new medical research indicating that dairy milk may not be as good for the human body as once thought, more and more people are opting for alternative milk options that don’t use dairy products.
In fact, about 14% of milk sales derive from alternative milk, such as soy milk, almond milk, and of course, oat milk.
Oak milk tends to be the most expensive option at 2.5 times the cost of dairy milk with an average cost of $5.29 for a half-gallon.
Why is oat milk so expensive when it’s just made out of oats?
We will cover the top ten reasons oak milk is so expensive.
1. Processes
To make oat milk, the two core ingredients you need are oats and water.
While that sounds simple enough, the equipment needed to make the milk can get quite expensive.
When the oats arrive, the factory must remove the outer shell, which humans can’t digest properly.
Then, the prepared oats are broken down and mixed with water in a giant vat until it becomes the base for the oat milk.
This base must be subjected to extremely high temperatures, so the vat must be able to withstand these temperatures.
Finally, the thick slurry goes through a strainer multiple times until it reaches the desired consistency.
These processes cost a significant amount of money to complete properly, especially the labor and equipment.
Additives And Preservatives
Before oat milk gets packaged, many manufacturers include additives and preservatives.
Some of the most common additives and preservatives you will find in oat milk include:
- Rapeseed oil
- Phosphates
- Vitamin D2
The popular brand Oatly had a lot to say in defense of each of these ingredients.
Rapeseed: “We specifically chose rapeseed/canola oil for our products due to its great nutritional profile (low in saturated fats, rich in unsaturated fats, and higher in omega-3 fatty acids than most other oils).”
Phosphates: “Regarding phosphates and nutrition, phosphorus (along with other nutrients like calcium) is needed for the maintenance of normal bones and teeth.”
Vitamin D2: “Finally, regarding vitamin D… we use D2 because it’s a vegan-friendly source of the vitamin, which is crucial to our products.”
One of the most problematic additives comes in the form of added sugars.
While the added sugars don’t necessarily promote a healthy lifestyle, the sugars do improve the taste.
Furthermore, Oatly and most other oat milk brands add less sugar than most dairy milk.
Naturally, the manufacturers must pay for the additional items they put into their products, and the price reflects the added cost.
Making Oat Milk At Home
Some people opt to make oat milk themselves to save money, which takes roughly $2 worth of oats (and a lot of time and effort along with a proper blender).
This does not account for the cost of the blender or the first couple of botched batches while you learn how to create the best recipe and remain consistent.
When you make oat milk at home, you don’t get the additional supplements included in the product by the major manufacturers, so it may not be quite as healthy.
On the upside though, it’s way cheaper, and you have complete control of the sugar content.
2. Packaging
It’s important to create packaging that clarifies that the product inside is oat milk as opposed to dairy milk or different alternative milk.
It can be easy for consumers to accidentally buy the wrong product if the packaging isn’t clear.
Since oat milk has such an association with renewable resources and a clean lifestyle, the packaging must also be sustainable, as well.
Most oat milk, and other alternative milk products, come in Tetra Pak packaging, or perhaps Pure-Pak packaging.
Tetra Pak is made from mostly paper (75%), but it also contains a small amount of polyethylene (20%), and aluminum (5%).
While resourceful, it’s important to understand that you may not be able to recycle Tetra Pak products by simply putting the carton in your recycling bin.
3. Taste
Oat milk tastes great.
The grain flavor of the oats meshes perfectly with the sweetness of the sugar.
The additional hint of earthiness elevates the taste even more.
Oat milk tastes great on its own as a drink with breakfast or lunch, but it also complements numerous drinks and meals.
Many people put oat milk in their coffee to lighten the strength and bitterness of coffee while also adding a hint of flavor (without the insane amount of sugar in most coffee flavorings).
You can also use oat milk in cereal.
While most people use it with healthy cereals made from grains, you can also pair it with sugary cereals for a dynamic variation of flavors in every bite.
Flavors
If you’re really looking to mix things up, you can find oat milk in different flavors, such as chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.
Naturally, the flavored oat milk contains more sugar than the original version.
If you don’t want to buy a whole carton of milk in a new flavor, you can always add some fresh berries or syrup to a glass yourself.
4. Limited Demand
As we mentioned earlier, 14% of milk sales come from non-dairy alternatives.
While oat milk and other alternatives are on the rise, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s a huge demand.
Since oat milk comes with a higher price tag, that makes it even less desirable.
Since only so many people buy oat milk, manufacturers can only make a certain amount of product.
Unfortunately, it usually costs a lot less to mass-produce an enormous number of units instead of only producing a limited number of units.
With that being said, oat milk consumption is on the rise.
Ideally, the demand will allow manufacturers to utilize less expensive processes and produce products at their top capabilities.
5. Marketing And Future Growth
In order to generate buzz about oat milk, manufacturers need to effectively market their products to a large audience in a way that makes people want to buy them.
It can be risky to spend a lot of money on marketing when profits are limited.
However, you need to spend money to make money.
A successful campaign can dramatically increase sales, while a poor campaign can deplete the company’s entire budget.
To minimize risks, most companies spend extra to enlist the services of an expensive marketing expert and a marketing team.
You may think that oat milk manufacturers target vegans, health-enthusiasts, and people who suffer from lactose intolerance.
While these consumers make up an important demographic, they already know about oat milk and buy oat milk.
To target these customers, oat milk companies focus on brand recognition, email campaigns with coupons, and social media.
Ultimately, these are minimal line items in the marketing budget.
However, it’s not enough to promote oat milk to people who already drink it.
Oat milk companies must get the word out there to people who don’t already know about how delicious and nutritious oat milk is and why they should switch from animal-based milk.
It starts by getting the attention of consumers with a clever print ad in a subway station or television commercial.
Then, the ad must appeal to the person looking at it, which can be an uphill battle if the person looking at the ad has a preconceived notion that oat milk is only for hipsters who want to pay extra to seem progressive and pseudo-healthy (even though oat milk is actually healthy).
6. Storage
When unopened and stored properly in a cabinet, oat milk can last up to two months past the date on the package.
If you put the same container in the fridge, the unopened oat milk will only be good for about two to three days past the date printed on the container.
Once opened, whether in the fridge or stored at room temperature, oat milk will last for up to a week.
However, the oat milk should remain refrigerated after it has been opened.
If you accidentally drink spoiled milk, it can lead to food poisoning that comes with various types of uncomfortable digestive trouble.
As a perishable item, oat milk manufacturers must take the proper precautions to ensure that their product stays good for as long as possible.
They also must plan production very carefully so that the product sells before it goes bad.
How to Tell If Oat Milk Is Bad
We’ve all been in an iffy situation where a carton of milk may still be good, but you examine it to make sure.
The signs you look for in regular milk do not necessarily apply in this situation (although there is definitely some overlap).
Signs of old, spoiled oat milk include:
- Excessively thick consistency
- Lumps
- Mold
- Discoloration
- Foul odor
Ultimately, when in doubt, throw it out.
You may save a couple of dollars by drinking the questionable milk instead of buying a new carton, but is the $5 really worth camping out in the bathroom for hours?
7. Health Benefits
The main reason people drink oat milk is for the health benefits, especially compared to milk that comes from animals.
See the following standard nutritional facts of oat milk you can find at the store (nutrition may vary, especially if you make your own oat milk at home):
- Calories: 120
- Fat: 5 grams
- Sugars: 7 grams
- Carbs: 16 grams
- Sodium: 101 mg
- Protein: 3 grams
- Fiber: 2 grams
- Potassium: 389 mg
- Iron: 0.3 mg
Oat milk provides moderate energy, sugar, and fat without reaching alarming levels.
There are a substantial number of carbs which may raise a red flag for someone on a low-carb diet.
While only minimally effective as a source of protein and fiber, a serving of oat milk provides almost the same amount of potassium as a banana.
The greatest health benefit comes from the 1.2 µg of vitamin B12 you get in every serving.
One serving provides 50% of your daily recommended amount of vitamin B12.
Vitamin B12 plays a fundamental role in cell development, encouraging healthy and prosperous cell reproduction and brain development.
A lack of vitamin B12 can lead to anemia, which can make a person weak and tired.
In addition to unexplained lethargy, you may also notice pale, clammy skin, heart palpitations, and difficulty breathing if you have a vitamin B12 deficiency.
Unhealthy Considerations About Dairy Milk
For years, milk companies promoted the idea that we should all drink three glasses of milk a day to grow strong and maintain healthy bones.
After a little digging, it appears that most doctors don’t recommend three glasses of milk a day after all.
For starters, whole milk contains eight grams of fat per serving.
Three servings equal 24 grams of fat, about 36% of the total fat a person on a 2,100-calorie plan should consume in a day.
People on a diet that limits fat should seriously reconsider more than a glass a day.
They should also probably switch to skim milk or 2% milk.
Milk is also difficult to digest and can cause stomach troubles.
The problem is more severe for people with lactose intolerance.
8. Dairy Milk Priced Too Low
Decades ago, in the ’80s and ’90s, dairy milk companies were riding high.
Not only did the “Got Milk?” campaign prove extremely effective, but they also hired doctors to encourage people to drink three glasses of milk a day.
The smartest analysts may have anticipated a slight decline after such a high, and they should have anticipated that people would research the health claims and learn the truth about how milk can affect a person’s digestive system.
However, there were no other options at the time.
What would people use for cereal and coffee?
Consumers had no choice.
Instead of providing innovative solutions, many milk companies proceeded as normal under the presumption that people need milk and only have a choice of what brand to buy.
No one predicted alternative options would enter the market and grow in popularity at a shockingly quick pace.
When Oatly came out with oat milk in 1994, it might have raised an eyebrow, but most milk companies assumed that people would want to stick with what they know instead of spending more money on water made with oats.
Without a backup plan, many milk companies, such as Dean Foods and Borden, watched helplessly as alternative milk options began to eclipse dairy milk.
In 2010, consumers bought 55 billion pounds of milk in the United States alone.
That number dropped significantly to 47.7 billion pounds sold in 2018.
While multiple factors contributed to the consequential drop in milk sales, the growth of oat milk was a serious factor.
In order to stay competitive, dairy milk companies had one main selling point: cost.
Dairy milk was and still is significantly less expensive than oat milk.
However, dairy milk is actually priced a little too low.
At the current prices, dairy milk producers and retailers are seeing lower profits to the point of negative profits.
Dean Foods and Borden both raised the white flag and filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and 2020.
The lesson?
Always charge a price that ensures you generate a profit and prepare for adjustments.
9. Comparison To Other Alternative Milk Options
Plant-based milk alternatives are a rather small niche with a lot of competition.
Companies need to spend a lot of money to stand out and remain competitive compared to the other similar products on the market.
Some other alternative milk options include:
- Coconut milk
- Rice milk
- Soy milk
- Almond milk
Each type of milk has its own advantages and disadvantages compared to the others.
What makes oat milk stand out where one manufacturer feels they can charge the most?
Many alternative kinds of milk are watery, such as coconut milk.
The watery consistency may not complement all drinks, and they’re more difficult to cook with.
Oat milk also provides more nutrients than many of the alternatives.
Finally, more people prefer the taste of oat milk, especially when combined with other foods and beverages.
However, oat milk costs the most and contains the most calories (tied with rice milk).
10. Specialty Product
As a specialty product, oat milk requires specialized training and equipment.
Since not everyone knows about the subtleties of oat milk production, it costs more to hire staff with that unique knowledge.
The equipment used to make regular milk can’t be used to make oat milk.
You need specialized equipment designed specifically for oat milk.
Since many manufacturers don’t produce oat milk equipment regularly, they need to spend more time and money on its creation when they do get an order, inflating the price compared to standard multi-purpose equipment.
As more and more companies request fabricators to make oat milk equipment, the processes will become less complicated, and the cost will go down.
Ideally, someone may even invent a machine that can produce oat milk as well as other types of alternative milk to get more use out of the machines.
Conclusion
We should all embrace change, especially when it comes to our health.
People have enjoyed milk from cows and goats since humanity’s cave-dwelling days, so we have it programmed in our brains that humans drink milk from animals.
However, cavemen also ate meat raw until they learned how to build a fire and cook the food.
They also let the food spoil over time until someone learned how to preserve food with salt and ice.
Now that we know about the benefits of alternative milk options, especially oat milk, we should all keep our minds open and embrace the change.
However, if you strongly prefer the taste of dairy milk, that’s fine, too.
Plus, the milk companies can use the sales.
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