World Grain - January 2023 - 46

Oats
in high
demand
for milk
production
Some companies reporting 50% or more year-on-year growth for oat milk brands
by David McKee
I
n recent years, plant-based milk substitutes have
gained prominence in supermarket coolers and on
coffee shop menus. Within this category, oat milk
has been accounting for nearly all sales increases with
some companies reporting 50% or more year-on-year
growth for their brands, even as demand for longerestablished
almond milk and soy milk has plateaued.
One to two billion liters could be the current annual
sales level, though precise industry data is tightly held.
The trend toward oat milk is driven by its appeal to
vegans and the lactose intolerant, as well as to consumers
worried about the climate change impact of large
dairy herds.
Oats require just a fraction of the water needed for almonds
and avoid the health concerns surrounding soybased
foods. Tastiness, low sugar content, creamy texture
and frothiness have helped oat milk surpass cow's
milk as the main choice for lattes in many coffee shops.
Farmers and oat millers in the Canadian prairie provinces
count among the chief beneficiaries of the boom
in oat-based beverages. Most of the handful of large,
specialized oat milling companies have been running
their plants at full capacity to meet this new source of
demand. New processing lines are being added.
One source estimates that a tonne of milled oats, equivalent
to 1.7 tonnes of raw oats, is needed per 3,500 liters
of oat milk. Consequently, growers in Saskatchewan,
46
Manitoba and Alberta have been able to sell a higher
share of their crop at a premium as food grade oats.
North American integration
Canada accounts for 85% of North American oat production.
In 2022, its crop came in at 4.6 million tonnes
after drought limited the 2021 harvest to 2.6 million
tonnes. The 2022 total was the most since 2007, and
vaulted Canada past Russia as the world's No. 1 oat
producing country.
The United States and Canada function as a single
highly integrated oat market. Canadian oat millers send
over 80% of their output of groats, flakes and oat flour
to the United States for use by the food processing industry
not just as a breakfast food but as ingredients in
a wide range of food products.
Unlike most other cereals, oat milling is done primarily
in the production zones to remove the hull, which
is 40% of the weight and has little commercial value.
The rule of thumb in oat milling is 60% yield of oat
products from uncleaned, field-run ( " dirty " ) oats.
One longtime mill manager said, " mill output is 45%
whole groats and 45% steel cut oats, depending on the
design and efficiency of the plant. Oat flour is 5% to
15% of the output. Since flour is the lowest value product,
the goal is always to minimize oat flour. "
" Oat hulls are the primary byproduct, " he addJanuary
2023 / World Grain / World-Grain.com
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World Grain - January 2023

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