Ex-Dairy Execs Launch Japanese-Inspired Plant Milk

Launched this month by two former dairy industry executives, Yoi is taking a gut-health approach to plant-based milk through a slow-cultured combination of nut and seed milk. The inspiration behind the brand’s culturing techniques are also tied to its name; meaning ‘good’ in Japanese, Yoi made its debut at local San Francisco farmers markets and is now on the shelf at 20 independent grocers in the Bay Area.

How’s It Made?

For the moment, Yoi co-founders Ellie Wells and Tosh Nakagawa have bypassed using a co-packer, fermenting the liquid and packaging the product at its manufacturing facility in Fairfield, California. They begin with a combination of almonds, coconut cream and pumpkin seeds to make the milk, which is then fermented using traditional Japanese slow-culturing processes. The end result is a drinkable kefir-like product that is plant-based and contains up to 100 billion probiotic CFUs per serving.

According to Wells, her and Nagakawa’s love for cultured products and extensive knowledge of the fermentation process was cultivated during the decade they worked together at Australian-style dairy yogurt brand The Wallaby Yogurt Company. Combined with their and their families’ own interest in plant-based diets, the pair was inspired to try innovating into the nascent plant-based drinkable yogurt category.

What Makes Yoi Different?

Aside from Forager’s probiotic cashewmilk yogurt, the category for plant-based probiotic milk products is virtually non-existent. Yoi is currently on the trucks of local distributor Dairy Delivery in the San Francisco area. After this small-scale launch, Wells said the team will likely ‘iterate the product a few more times’ while taking into account feedback from retailers.

In addition to its high probiotic count, Yoi takes its support of gut-health one step further by incorporating prebiotic fibers into the product as well.

“The prebiotic fiber basically helps the probiotics work better,” explained Wells. “These fibers give the probiotics something to feed off of in your gut so it’s got both of those, in addition to the plant protein. It’s really something you can consume on its own as it doesn’t need to be consumed with other things to make the probiotics effective.”

Yoi is available in four flavors – Strawberry, Vanilla Bean, Pineapple and Cacao Nib – in 10 oz. bottles for $4.99. The product is also offered in a large format, 23 oz. bottle in Plain Unsweetened and Vanilla Bean flavors for $8.99. Yoi is sweetened with fruits and dates meaning there is no added sugar and it contains about 200 calories per serving.

What else do they have in store?

Wells said they intend to position Yoi as a brand that embraces the goodness within its products, but also extends that goodness beyond and into the company’s day-to-day operations. She also noted they hope to align the brand with a social cause and have a few ideas currently in the works.

In addition to social responsibility, Wells said the team plans to continue innovating in the cultured, plant-based food and beverage space. Their goal is to create a brand with lines of products containing “really good nutritional profiles,” while also remaining entirely organic and low in sugar.

“It’s a premium, high-quality brand, but we want to ensure it’s accessible, that it’s fun, and not stuffy,” said Wells. “I would also describe it as gutsy and optimistic. We like to say we are good for you but not goody-goody.”