If we learned anything from the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption of retail channels and beverage categories, it’s this: virus or not, Americans want their oat milk. The prodigious growth of oat and other plant-based milks has been one of the major industry trends of the past decade, as has the decline of traditional fluid dairy milk. Simultaneously, as coffee has emerged as the dominant portal through which consumers discover plant-based products, a new generation of non-dairy creamers is driving growth in that category in both refrigerated coolers and ambient shelves.
In this episode of Category Close-Up, we’ll be exploring the plant-based milk and creamer category from a variety of perspectives, starting today with our Expert Analysis panel discussion. Over the course of an hour, we’ll hear how this rapidly evolving space is presenting both opportunities and challenges to distributors, retailers and brands, as well as how the overall market dynamics and trends are shaping the outlook for industry analysts and investment bankers.
Along with providing the context and data to understand the current state of the market, the panel dives into the current issues on-shelf, examining how the expanding cooler set can accommodate equally rising innovation by brands, as well as how plant-based milks and creamers are having an impact on the growth of the category on ambient center store aisles. The group provides insight into how challenges in contract manufacturing are adding a further hurdle for start-up brands to overcome, how private label products factor into market growth, and how brands are meeting the demand for innovation with new formats, flavors and functional benefits, in addition to a range of other topics.
This episode’s guests include:
* Richard Medina, CEO & Co-Founder, Los Angeles Distributing Company
* Madeline Haydon, CEO & founder, nutpods
* Stu Strumwasser, Managing Director, Green Circle Capital Partners LLC
* Kelli Walter, Dairy Category Manager, Sprouts Farmers Market
* Jeff Crumpton, Manager of Retail Reporting Solutions, SPINS
Following our Expert Analysis panel, we’ll shift perspective tomorrow to hear directly from the brands and entrepreneurs that are actively processing these major categories at retail on Product Showcase. BevNET managing editor Marty Caballero will be joined by Taste Radio’s Ray Latif to interview a range of plant-based milk and creamer brand leaders, each allotted 5-7 minutes to discuss product strategy and new product information.
Both Expert Analysis and Product Showcase are available exclusively to BevNET/NOSH subscribers and can be viewed here.