The dairy-free market is set to hit $14.4billion by 2020 following the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.70 percent. In 2016 the dairy alternatives market reached an estimated $7.4billion.
The figures coming from Report Linker’s new research has said that North America will be the fastest growing region for dairy alternatives, with coconut milk predicted to be the fastest growing area during the period.
The most popular products are forecast to be unsweetened and flavoured products as the “quickest rising formulation for dairy alternatives”, according to Report Linker. This is due to the increase of people refusing the intake of added sweeteners, in both natural and artificial forms.
As more people adopt a plant based lifestyle, for a number of reasons including lactose intolerance, milk allergies, and the health and ethical concerns surrounding dairy production, the dairy-free sector is only going to increase. The National Dairy Council stated that in 2011, about 25 percent of the US population and 75 percent of the global population have low lactose levels, or are lactose maldigesters, aiding this steady increase of dairy-free options.
Consumers are becoming more aware of the damage dairy farming has on the environment, alongside animal welfare concerns, contributing to the decline of dairy farming that has continued steadily for decades. Other contributing factors to the decrease in dairy farming include the nutrition of milk not being as beneficial as previously thought, with the same nutritional benefits found in plant based milks.
Large companies such as Danone have invested in the dairy-free market, with the recent purchase of White Wave, the parent company to So Delicious. Big corporations investing in the dairy-free market highlight the effort made to keep up with consumer trends and needs, expanding the market further.