12:00, 04 January 2022
Words by Smiley Team, Staff Writer, London
Watch out oat milk, there’s a new plant-based milk on the supermarket shelves and it could potentially become the most popular dairy substitute yet. Potato milk has joined the array of non-dairy alternatives, with properties that make it the most sustainable milk option in 2022.
The aptitude of potatoes to make milk was discovered by Eva Tornberg, a professor at Lund’s Department of Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrition.
Potatoes require less water and are twice as efficient to grow as oats, making the milk the most eco-friendly yet. If households switch from cow milk to potato milk, they could lower their climate impact by 75%, according to its first producer, plant-based milk company DUG.
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Tornberg’s research revealed not only that potato milk is more sustainable, but also that it can be highly nutritious. Potatoes naturally contain much fibre and potassium, as well as vitamin C, vitamin B6, magnesium, phosphorus, folate and niacin, which all have great health benefits.
Swedish company DUG, owned by Veg of Lund, leapt to introduce potato milk to the market, offering potato milk in three flavours: original, barista and unsweetened.
“We have a good product that we are proud of,” said Thomas Olander, CEO of Veg of Lund.
“Our choice to use potatoes as a base means that we have a super-sustainable drink. Potatoes don’t need much to grow at all, making them a super-sustainable crop compared to others like soybeans, almonds or oats. Not to mention dairy products,” he added.
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Previous attempts at using vegetables to make milk haven’t yet reached the mass market. This includes Veggemo, a pea and potato-based milk sold in Canada.
So we have yet to see how DUG’s potato milk will go down, but its manufacturer has high hopes for the new product.
DUG claims: “Our new, patented, award-winning, potato-based dairy alternative, ticks all the boxes: deliciously creamy, perfectly foamy, super-sustainable, and versatile, performing just as well in hot drinks as it does in cooking and in baking.”
DUG sells its potato milk internationally via the retailers TheVeganKind Supermarket, the Naturally Vegan Supermarket NAVESU, Amazon and Waitrose.
