Today is the first ever World Plant Milk Day, created by online news site Plant Based News (PBN) to celebrate and raise awareness of the massive market growth of alternative milks made without animal products.
Plant milks such as almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk and rice milk are ever-growing in sales and consumer interest, holding noticeable parallels with the also ever-growing number of vegans and others adopting plant based diets in the world.
With varying textures and flavours and a wide range of different culinary uses, plant milks offer a rich diversity, and today’s marking as the first World Plant Milk Day celebrates that fact. Jimmy Pierson, Director of ProVeg UK, said: “Whether it’s oat, almond, soya or coconut, there are plant milks for every taste, for every cup of tea and every bowl of cereal. World Plant Milk Day aims to widen their availability and further accelerate their popularity”.
Various vegan and animal welfare organisations in the UK, such as ProVeg, Animal Aid, Veganuary and Viva! have come together with PBN to bring World Plant Milk Day recognition as a day for promoting and raising awareness of the benefits of plant based milks versus their market rivals in dairy milks.
Jane Land, Co-Founder of Veganuary, said: “All the signs indicate that dairy is in terminal decline and it’s no surprise that consumption is dropping year by year.
“After all, why would anyone want to buy a product that has such a detrimental impact on animals, the environment and their health when there are far superior plant based alternatives available?”
The plant based alternative milk industry is expected to reach a value of over $16 billion in 2018, whilst dairy production in the UK is on the decline; it is predicted that by 2025, there will be fewer than 5,000 dairy farms on our shores, a massive decrease from the 13,000 farms present just ten years ago.
Abused, tormented, betrayed and killed – that is the life of a dairy cow in modern Britain,” said Ben Martin, Campaign Manager, Animal Aid.
The hashtags ‘#WorldPlantMilkDay’ and ‘#PostMilkEra’ are to be used on social media throughout the day, with awareness-raising being a major player in the motivation for World Plant Milk Day to come to fruition.