The Alternative Dairy Co: Central Coast plant based barista milk company’s sales triple

A coast company dedicated to making sure you have the smoothest, tastiest coffee from your local cafe is crushing it in the plant based milk industry.

The Alternative Dairy Co is based in Berkeley Vale on the Central Coast.

The Central Coast has another reason to boast.

Hidden in the Sanitarium Health Food factory in Berkeley Vale is a plant-based barista milk company which has taken the industry by storm.

The Alternative Dairy Co hit the market in 2018, delivering quality soy and almond barista milks before adding oat milk in 2019.

Despite the pandemic and negative impacts on hospitality industry, the coast business has seen sales triple in the first quarter of FY21 compared to the last quarter of FY20.

Sanitarium Health Food Company general manager of sales Steve Beams said The Alternative Dairy Co was formed after identifying an opportunity in the industry.

The Alternative Dairy Co supplies soy, almond and oat milk to baristas.

“Plant-based milk has been around for a long time, especially in the supermarkets,” he said.

“More and more people are introducing plant-based milks into their diets and with the coffee trend growing in Australia, we saw an opportunity to bring in plan- based milk that compliments coffee beans.

“We set about using the food curators at Sanitarium and partnered with baristas.

“It only works if there is a need and the number of people moving across to plant-based milks has given us that opportunity.”

The business distributes to cafes Australia wide and has also popped up on the international market.

“It’s humbling to have what we believe is one of the best tasting plant-based barista milks in the country,” Mr Beams said.

Dairy-free milk alternatives have continued to surge in popularity and Mr Beams said almond milk had overtaken soy as the most requested dairy alternative, however oat was making its move to the front of the pack.

“People have long been attracted to the health benefits of plant milks, but a growing number of socially-conscious consumers are now also seeking food and drinks with stronger sustainability credentials,” he said.

“In coffee, the decision to switch from dairy to a plant milk is now easy too, because it no longer represents a compromise on the coffee experience.”

The Alternate Dairy Co has hit the road in this purpose built motorcycle.

The Alternative Dairy Co source its almonds from the Murray-Darling region and use locally-grown oats to create the a “superior creaminess, flavour and ability to texture or stretch”.

“There’s a whole lot of science behind getting plant milks right for coffee and we take great pride in how our plant milks taste and perform in coffee,” Mr Beams said.

“We have had great feedback from both baristas and coffee lovers about how delicious the range is – the positive word-of-mouth is really starting to pay off.”

This year the company is hitting the road in a purpose-built motorcycle with sidecar that doubles as a mobile cafe to travel around the country. Piloted by Australian travel columnist Ben Groundwater, the mobile cafe is meeting Australians living in less-travelled locations and having a chat over a freshly brewed oat milk latte.