PepsiCo’s 140-year-old oatmeal brand is branching out into beverages. Quaker will take advantage of the fast-growing popularity of oat milk to launch a line of oat-based beverages early next year, the company said.
Sales of plant-based alternatives to dairy milk grew 9% to $1.6 billion in a recent 52-week period, according to Nielsen and the Plant Based Foods Association.
Health hasn’t been the primary key to Oatly’s success in the U.S. Oat-based beverages are winning fans with a neutral taste and a texture that to many mimics dairy milk more closely than other alternatives, including almond milk and soy milk, says Mike Messersmith, U.S. general manger for Oatly.