Gone are the days when the most complicated choice you had to make in the milk section of the dairy aisle was reduced fat or whole. Now, you’ll find carton after carton of dairy-like beverages made from foods you never thought could be “milked” – almonds, oats, rice, peas.

Although cow’s milk is still the most popular according to retail sales, nondairy alternatives are estimated to have hit $US2.95 billion ($3.8 billion) last year, up 54 per cent from five years earlier, according to market research firm Mintel.