Potato Milk Could Be This Year’s Alternative Protein Trend

Hey all you skeptics out there. British supermarket chain, Waitrose recently released its 2022 Food and Drink report in which it predicts that potato milk will be the biggest dairy alternative milk trend of 2022.

Yes. Potatoes.

“We’ve seen the popularity of soy, almond, oat, and pea milk in recent years,” said Waitrose. “Now it’s the turn of potato milk. Low in sugar and saturated fat, it’s set to dominate coffee shop menus in the coming months.”

The British supermarket chain was so confident in its prediction that it will be selling the only commercially available brand of potato milk on the market— a Swedish brand called DUG, owned by startup Veg of Lund— from February.

DUG is a blend, consisting mainly of potato (6%), water, and rapeseed oil, along with vitamins, flavoring and additives, including pea protein and chicory fibre.

Those who are willing to give it a try will be happy to hear that there are three options to choose from: Original, Unsweetened and Barista.

Here are a few reasons why potato milk might just be spudtacular…

Alternative dairy is extremely popular

UK sales of plant-based milk are booming and the British market is worth about £400m a year. In the United States, plant-based milk now accounts for about 10% of the total milk market with sales of plant-based dairy products approaching $2 billion. A Mintel survey, conducted in April 2021 reveals that use of plant-based milk in the UK is at an all time high with a usage rate of 32%, up from 25% in 2019, and a usage rate of 44% of Millennials aged 25 to 44. This is highly important, given that potato milk will come through the UK before it hits the US.

The alternative dairy sector is driven by frequent change

If there is anything consistent about the alternative milk market, it is change. Coconut oat milk, hemp milk, spelt milk, rice milk, pea milk, almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, soy milk, sesame milk, flax milk, pistachio milk, walnut milk, macadamia milk, banana milk, hazelnut milk, quinoa milk… the list goes on and on. There’s no reason why potato milk should do worse than any of the above, unless it fails in flavor.

Potatoes have a really low impact on the environment

According to the Waitrose report, which surveyed 2,000 consumers, nearly 70% of those surveyed said that the carbon footprint of their food was either “very” or “somewhat” important to them. DUG claims to be the most sustainable alternative to dairy on the market and research appears to back up those claims. Before the arrival of potato milk, almond milk had the lowest carbon footprint of alternative milks, at  0.7 kg CO₂e/kg. DUG Original has a carbon footprint of 0.27 kg CO₂e/kg, while Dug Barista and Dug Unsweetened both have carbon footprints of 0.31 CO₂e/kg. According to DUG, growing potatoes is twice as efficient as growing oats in terms of land use and in the water use department, potatoes ranks somewhere in the middle of the pack as compared to other dairy alternatives.

Potatoes are healthy

Potato milk is low in sugar and fat and it is also free from common allergens, lactose, milk, soy, gluten and nuts. DUG original contains 15% of the daily recommended value of Calcium, 15% of the daily recommended value of Vitamin D, 15% of the daily recommended value of Riboflavin and 15% of the daily recommended value of Vitamin B12. DUG is the only plant-based dairy alternative fortified with Folic Acid with 15% of the recommended value. For those who are watching their weight, the brand has 39 calories and 1.5 grams of fat per serving.

It’s apparently tasty

According to DUG, their potato milk tastes delicious and creamy and has a very balanced taste, given the neutral flavor of potatoes. And online reviews have for the most part been kind.