Steven Lim, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Listen Up Sdn Bhd, the proud owner of OatLife brand of oat milk drink shares with AFBR the reasons why he believes Oat Milk is on an uptrend in demand in this region.
Oat milk is extremely versatile as it can be drank by itself or added to coffee due to its foamable nature. Oatlife brand, as an example, also markets OatLife Barista, a product which froths well when steamed making it ideal for latte art. OatLife Barista is made with oats but has the fullness and richness of regular milk.
As such, oat milk is a perfect substitute for cow milk, not to mention it is plant-based, lactose free and trans fat free.
As it is a perfect substitute, it can also be extremely versatile and can be innovated via research and development into multiple products. At OatLife, there are many SKUs for oat milk in both liquid and powdered formats from OatLife Barista to OatLife Chocolate Oat Milk in liquid format, to Oat Milk Tea and Oat White Coffee in powder sachet forms. Oats offer an endless possibility for innovation as it can even be blended with tea, coffee and cocoa to create a healthier positioning for your products.
There are many advantages of using oats in beverages. According to a presentation by Mr Lim, “Oat Milk contains Beta Glucan, and is high in Fiber, Unsaturated Fats like Omega 3 and 6, and it helps to balance blood sugar levels. Oats is also lactose-free and is a sustainable product.”
As such, Oat milk ticks at all the right boxes for marketeers to position their brands effectively to consumers.
It is also notable that 85% of Asians are lactose intolerant, and there is a higher prevalent rate of lactose intolerance in East and South East Asia (see Chart 1.0). As such, it is inevitable that demand for milk substitutes could be higher in this part of the world.
O
at milk, just like many other alternative plant-based milk, allows manufacturers to align themselves with the growing consumer concern for sustainability. Oat milk has one of the lowest CO2 emissions and water use making it one of the most sustainable plant-based milk apart from soy milk. (see Chart 2.0)
The target consumers for Oat Milk, according to Mr Lim, will be the 30-60 year olds who are actively seeking healthy lifestyles but still have high expectations on taste and quality. This group is also the ones who are environmentally conscious. The second major group will be the lactose-intolerant consumers and those who are vegans/vegetarians.
Presently, OatLife, a product from Malaysian-based Listen Up Sdn Bhd, has already penetrated into Malaysia and Thailand, and will soon make its way into Singapore and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, a separate survey by Millieu Insight conducted on 1,000 respondents in Southeast Asia, found that plant-based milk which has ‘low/no sugar’ and ‘high in protein’ claims could highly influence the purchasing decision of consumers while shopping. These 2 attributes seem important to ensure success of plant-based milk brands in this region. (see Chart 3.0). Millieu Insight also mentioned that Malaysians, Indonesians and Vietnamese are the Top 3 countries in this region that are very or somewhat likely to try plant-based milk beverages.
