The boom of plant-based drinks and yogurts

Plant based pudding with cocoa powder and hazelnuts

The boom of plant-based drinks and yogurts

Plant-based drinks and desserts is a growing category. It fits consumers’ desire to enjoy products that are delicious, good for them and good for the planet. Discover inspiring launches and NPD strategies, and dream about your next plant-based creations with our delicious vegan and dairy-free products.

Plant-based is here to stay

Still emerging a few years ago, the plant-based desserts and drinks category boomed thanks, in part, to flexitarians: people buying dairy one day, dairy-free the next. The taste of the products has greatly improved and there is more choice of dairy alternatives than ever. Almond, coconut and oat-based products are the most popular.

Western Europe was the most dynamic region globally in terms of launches: 724 newly launched plant-based drinks, 352 plant-based yogurts, representing respectively 39% and 66% of all launches globally¹.

The Western European dairy-free drinks and desserts market is large and dynamic. According to Euromonitor:

Plant-based yogurts: 627m€ in retail value in 2019 and is expected to grow +8.1% CAGR 2019-2024. The biggest market is France with 180m€, followed by Italy, Germany and the UK (78m€, 75m€ and 67m€ respectively)
Plant-based drinks: 2204m€ in retail value in 2019, expected to grow +9.3% CAGR 2019-2024. The biggest market is Spain (456m€), closely followed by France, the UK and Germany (406m€, 362m€, 271m€ respectively)².

Learn more about the vegan/dairy-free trend

Interested in entering this market?

Discover how companies are positioning their drinks and desserts products and get inspired:

Taste first
Better-for-you
What’s next?

1 - Taste first

Whether on a vegan diet or not, taste is the key purchase driver for consumers. Once accustomed to dairy-free drinks and yogurts with an off taste and sandy texture, consumers now navigate between dairy and tasty dairy-free drinks and desserts. Top flavors include fruits such as strawberry or mango, or brown flavors such as chocolate and caramel¹.

Discover our indulgent products

Andros (France) launched their Gourmand et Végétal coconut-based chocolate mousse, with 16% chocolate. Vegan and made in France.

Starbucks (US) ice caffé latte made with almond drink.

Pastoret (Spain) almond-based yogurt, peach and passionfruit flavored. Made with Marcona almond and Pyrenean water.

Gü Free From chocolate vanilla cheesecake

Free-from chocolate and vanilla cheesecakes from Gü (UK). Vegan and gluten-free, made with coconut cream alternative.

2 - Better-for-you

As consumers easily navigate between dairy and non-dairy drinks and desserts, they are looking for similar functional benefits. Some brands, therefore, position their products beyond vegan with additional functional claims: without added sugar, high in protein, or source of probiotics for example.

The difference between vegan and dairy-free

Activia (Spain), the well-known yogurt brand, introduced a new soy-based range. It is enriched in probiotics, just like the dairy version.

A new Alpro chocolate soy-based drink (Greece) claiming 25g of protein per 500ml of product. Conveniently bottled in 500ml, it is an easy and delicious way to get more plant protein.

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Coca-Cola launched AdeZ (Europe), a range of plant-based drinks and smoothies. This one is made with almond, mango and passionfruit, without added sugar.

3 - What’s next?

Barry Callebaut offers a wide range of dairy-free nut pastes and cocoa powders that are perfectly suitable for plant-based drinks and desserts.

Discover our products here

Learn more about the difference between vegan, dairy-free and non-dairy claims.