Is the humble garbanzo bean making the jump from the hummus container to the plant-based milk carton? A pair of new dairy-free milk brands are betting that the chickpea will attract an audience as the next star ingredient in alternative milks – starting with kids.
Up until now, the plant-based milk category has been mainly focused on adult consumers, growing out of coffee shops and eventually establishing a strong foothold in grocery retail. Yet, the relatively untapped opportunity in the alt milk category might lie in dairy fluid milk’s primary by-the-glass consumer: children.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, about one in 13 children or about 8% of kids in the U.S. have a food allergy. Some of the most commonly used ingredients in plant-based milks are soybeans and tree nuts like almonds, pecans, walnuts and cashews which are also among the Food and Drug Administration’s Nine Major Food Allergens (along with dairy).
Still, the number of non-dairy milk brands currently focusing on children remains sparse. Pea protein-based brand Ripple has seen some success with its Kids line, topping $43 million dollars annual retail sales for the last 24-week period ending March 27, according to data provided by Denver, Colorado-based dairy-free milk maker Tally Foods. Other than soy milk, Ripple is the only allergen-free, plant-based option for kids that is listed as a USDA Approved Milk Substitute. Launched last year, KikiMilk is another emerging player in the nascent category, having most recently introduced a macadamia nut variety in 8 oz cartons.
Within the range of non-dairy milk sources to choose from, chickpeas tick several important boxes. Similar to oats, chickpeas are less allergenic to kids, while also being higher in protein and fiber with a lower glycemic index, along with packing vitamins and minerals that are not found in grains. Overall interest in chickpeas is growing across CPG, finding its way into snack brands like puffed Hippeas, chips brand Biena and Lebby’s chocolate-covered chickpeas, as well as being harnessed for flours, pastas and ice creams.
Against that backdrop, two new brands are taking different approaches to using chickpeas to bring in new, young consumers to the plant-based market.
Children Are The Future…Of Plant-Based Milks
As a former foodservice sales director at Ripple, Tally Foods co-founder Kyle Watts realized that there was an opportunity to create a highly nutritious, allergen-free plant milk that was approved by the USDA as a milk substitute and that could be sold to schools or foodservice. To start his own brand Tally Kids, Watts took a lesson from his previous company’s playbook by tapping into the food allergy community.
“It’s really about focusing on the people that need our product, and when I say need I really really mean that,” he said. “If you’re drinking milk and your child is breastfeeding and reacts with hives very physically, they’re crying, they are upset, it is not good.”
The segment of parents looking for an allergen-free plant milk that can be enjoyed by the glass (or bottle) and has the same nutritionals as dairy milk is huge, Watts said. From there, the brand can build out its consumer base to Millenials and Gen Z-ers looking for a zero sugar, dairy-free milk alternative.
Watts teamed up with Simply Brand Foods CEO and co-founder Jon Gabayzadeh, maker of egg alternative product Simply Eggless, to make the kid-positioned product. To drill down on the product’s nutritionals, the pair added nutritional biochemist Dr. Susan Marie Fluegel to the team to help create a formulation with the right balance for early childhood development.
The brand’s first product, Tally Kids Whole Milk Substitute, comes in 32-ounce Tetra Pak cartons and is available in two flavors: Original and Chocolate. The drinks have 8g of protein and 21 vitamins and minerals like choline, iron and zinc among others. Most importantly, Watts added, chickpea protein isolate tastes better than pea or soy protein isolate and thus doesn’t require added sugar.
“We actually are very bullish on the chickpea as an adult milk as well,” he said. “People like them, people like their taste. The same way almonds converted into almond milks, chickpeas are going to follow that same trajectory.”
Tally Kids launched online in January but is gearing up for UNFi distribution in May and KeHE in June. The products are $41.99 per 6-carton case on the company’s website. The brand is currently in the middle of a rolling $800,000 funding round.
Where To Find Little Milk Drinkers
Taking a slightly different approach to offering an allergen-free milk alternative for kids, New York-based brand Kiddiwinks is eyeing the opportunity in grab-and-go cold cases at coffeeshops and fast casual spaces where there’s few healthy beverage options for kids except dairy milk, soda or juice, according to co-founder and CEO Stephanie Banham-Eichner.
“We want to be next to every single Horizon Chocolate and Vanilla milk that are ubiquitous in Starbucks. We want to be the plant based option,” added co-founder and CCO Jenna Liut.
The brand soft-launched before Expo West and is now building wider distribution with grocery and local foodservice accounts, the drinks are available in Chocolate and Vanilla flavors in 7.5 oz aluminum cans. For now, Kiddiwinks is available in independent grocers and coffee shops in ten states. The brand is also selling online through its website and wholesale online marketplaces like Faire.com and Bulletin while it explores national distribution partnerships.
Kiddiwinks’ drinks use a blend of oat chicory and chickpea. Similar to Tally Kids, the company has also invested research dollars into consulting with a network of pediatric nutritionists who can back the products’ purported health benefits.
The drinks are packed with vitamins A, D and B12 as well as minerals like potassium and calcium expected in a kid-positioned alt milk. Kiddiwinks also have prebiotic fiber from chicory and the natural emulsifier sunflower lecithin adds the brain health boosting nutrient choline to the mix.
The company has raised nearly $2 million over two rounds, with the most recent closing in early 2022. Banham told BevNET that the brand hopes to raise a larger round at the end of the year as it builds on early sales momentum.
Banham and Liut initially intended to launch Kiddiwinks in 2022 in Tetra Pak cartons. Yet, with supply chain disruptions and general turmoil in beverage production, Kiddiwinks couldn’t find the line time for the format and had to re-work its formulation to meet a canned manufacturing process.
“We made it work and it was a bit of a fight for us to get to market but if you want to get something done, you get some moms to do it,” Liut said.