“Preserving nutritional integrity”: Plant-based creamers using oats and nuts debut

05 Sep 2019 --- Cold-pressed nut milk brand Malk Organics is launching a creamer line made with oats and nuts. Malk Creamer is made with six or fewer ingredients and the brand says it is the first organic plant-based creamer on the market containing no gums or fillers, allowing it to access the lucrative clean label market. The products are available exclusively at Whole Foods Markets in the US and have a subtle nutty taste and creaminess that can be used in hot and cold beverages. The creamers can also be frothed for lattes and cappuccinos.

“Since Malk Organics launched in 2014, consumer demand for plant-based creamers continues to grow, but the quality of the ingredients hasn’t improved,” says August Vega, Co-Founder and CEO at MALK Organics. “Our new creamers fill a void in a growing category. We’re committed to using simple ingredients that preserve the nutritional integrity and flavor of traditional homemade nut milk-based products.”

The consumer demands for organic products are more than trend, Sonia Ortiz, Director of Marketing at Malk Organics, tells NutritionInsight. “From sustainability to ensuring the food they consume meets certain standards, consumers are paving the way for how food and beverages should be made. For Malk, organic ingredients are the most important. We created Malk with the goal in mind that our plant-based milks would be made the way they should be – like homemade. We believe that we've set a new standard for how plant-based dairy alternatives should be made, and since then, we've seen many new options for organic plant-based milks with less gums and fillers.”

The products are made without oils, gums, phosphates, thickeners or emulsifiers and are Glyphosate Residue-Free Certified. The creamers are also Certified Organic, gluten-free and BPA-free. The brand says this will allow coffee-drinkers to enjoy their beverage with a boost of nutrients from oats and nuts without losing any flavor.

“Keeping a product as simple and fresh as possible is very difficult and requires a lot of research if the goal is to mass produce it for a national launch. With preservatives, additives, and fillers, we know what results to expect. The protein in almonds and pecans cause separation in the product, making it difficult to create a gum and filler-free product that doesn't separate in coffee. Our R&D team uses oats to emulsify the ingredients together. While slight separation may occur after it's been sitting in coffee for more than 15 minutes, the creamer blends perfectly with coffee,” explains Ortiz. 

Malk Creamers are available in “Unsweetened Oat + Almond” and “Maple Oat + Pecan” flavors, with “Vanilla Oat + Almond” also available in select regions. They can be found in the refrigerated section for US$3.99 per bottle.

One of the biggest results of the plant-based boom has been the strong rise in dairy alternatives. There has been a 17 percent average annual growth in dairy-free products (Global, CAGR 2013-2017) of these products, which include dairy-alternative drinks and spoonable non-dairy yogurt. Between 2013 and 2017, soy continued to be the top ingredient for plant-based dairy-alternative beverages; however, the market penetration is decreasing. Almonds and oats also show strong growth over the years, with a CAGR of 39 percent and 36 percent, respectively (2013-2017).

“When we created Malk, we wanted our products to be made with real food ingredients and have the nutritional profile feature the abundance of nuts we use to make each bottle. Most importantly, transparency is very important to us as a company and as a brand. August Vega created Malk for her son because she discovered that the options available at the time listed ingredients that she couldn't even pronounce,” concludes Ortiz.

In the plant-based space, Nestlé recently launched three dairy-free latte coffee mixes in the UK and Ireland under its Nescafé Gold brand. The range of almond, oat and coconut coffees are the world’s first plant-based soluble coffee mixes, according to Nestlé.

Edited by Katherine Durrell