According to a press release by Innova Market Insights, the market for plant-based milks is expected to reach $16.3 billion globally by 2018. This is up from $7.4 billion in 2010.
In 2016, the food trend research group found that vegan milks accounted for 7 percent of global dairy launches, up from 6 percent in 2015. Global numbers more than doubled over a five-year period, with nearly 40 percent of launches positioned as vegan.
“The dairy alternatives market has seen rising levels of interest in recent years, spurred mainly by consumers increasingly looking for lactose-free, dairy-free and plant-based/vegan options as healthy lifestyle choices, rather than regarding them as simply for those with allergies or intolerances, said LuAnn Williams, director of innovation at Innova Market Insights. “The category has been further boosted by the growing availability and promotion of plant-based options to traditional dairy lines, particularly beverages, but also cultured products such as yogurt, frozen desserts and ice cream, creamers and cheese.
Vegan cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and milk have truly taken off. In fact, earlier this year NBC News reported that internet grocery delivery giant Instacart found searches for “non-dairy” up by 222 percent.
This is great news for dairy cows, who are roughly handled, forcibly inseminated, and kept in terrible conditions at factory farms. Their calves are torn away from them shortly after birth. Male calves are killed for veal, and females are raised to produce more milk, trapped in a cycle of abuse for years until they are considered “spent and sent to slaughter.
Horrifying, right? Watch this undercover footage from a recent Mercy For Animals investigation in Colorado.
Fortunately, you can avoid contributing to this despicable industry by joining the millions who are ditching dairy and switching to a healthy and compassionate vegan diet.
Ready to go vegan? Click here to get started!
