The new milk alternative is made from potatoes

Plant-based ‘milk’ has become a staple in the food industry with products made from oats, almonds and rice now readily available. However, some of these crops can be resource intensive. Looking for a more sustainable and easily harvested alternative, Swedish brand Dug has turned to potatoes. That’s right, potato ‘milk’ is heading our way.

So what’s so great about spuds? Whilst we know that the dairy-based milk is more resource-intensive than plant-based – a single glass of milk produces three times more greenhouse gases,¹ the humble potato is also more sustainable than some popular alternatives. For example, almonds require 130 pints of water to produce a single glass of ‘milk’,² potatoes, on the other hand, use 56 times less.³

When comparing oat milk with potato milk, potatoes are much more efficient growers, using around half the acres of land that oats require.⁴ Moreover, you can cultivate them pretty much anywhere as they don’t require much to grow. One hectare can yield over a quarter of a million portions of food with very little impact on the environment.⁵

Rice on the other hand is a monopoliser of water – it takes 3,000 to 5,000 litres of water to produce just a kilogram. Rice production is also responsible for releasing harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere; according to EDF, its impact could be equal to that of 1,200 average-sized coal power plants.⁶

Potatoes also have benefit of not being a major allergen, unlike soy and dairy, and therefore has the potential to reach a far wider audience. 

It certainly seems that the spud has a lot going for it, so let’s see whether this super crop can take a share of the $7 billion market.⁷

References

1. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987
2. theguardian.com/food/2021/jul/27/smash-hit-is-potato-milk-the-ultimate-vegan-option
3. https://dugdrinks.com/sustainability/
4. https://biomarketinsights.com/potato-based-dairy-alternative-uses-50-less-land-than-oat/
5. https://dugdrinks.com/potato-power/
6. edf.org/media/nitrous-oxide-emissions-rice-farms-are-cause-concern-global-climate
7. prnewswire.com/news-releases/potato-based-milk-enters-the-booming-plant-based-milk-market-with-a-bang-301347908.html