What is dairy free plant milk made from?
Vegan plant milk can be made from a variety of plants including soya beans, peas, oats, rice, and various nuts and seeds. When we previously reviewed plant milk, we wondered whether buckwheat, hemp, and potato might be popular innovations. But it’s increasingly clear that almond, coconut, oat, and soya are the biggest players in this market.
We discuss the main ingredients used by plant based milk brands below.
Almond milk
Water use
Over 80% of the world’s almonds are grown in California, which experienced severe drought for much of the last decade, with 2022 the driest year in 128 years. The fact that almonds require significant water from the local area is a key reason why almond milk has gained something of a poorer reputation compared to other plant milks.
Almond Breeze and Califia are the only brands that source from California, with the rest sourcing from elsewhere (though Glebe Farm doesn’t say where it sources from).
But dairy still uses more water than almonds.
Pesticides and almonds
California almonds also come under scrutiny for pesticide use, and large monocultures can be harmful to local ecosystems.
The easiest way to avoid high pesticide use is to choose an organic-certified product: Califia, Plenish, ReRooted, and Rude Health all have organic almond options.
Is almond milk bad for bees?
As Califia says “without bees, almond trees can’t grow almonds”. They say they’re invested in bee health, and their largest almond supplier has its own in-house honeybee operation. But it’s relatively common for bees to be transported from afar into large almond growing areas, which can be stressful and result in bee deaths or injuries.
Animal rights organisation Viva! says cultivation of almonds depends on the “unnatural use of commercially farmed honeybees” – but it’s large monoculture almond farms that require this, and smaller ones might receive bee visits naturally. So not all almond milk is bad for bees.
Cashew milk
Workers' rights
Several reports have highlighted problems in the cashew industry, particularly around workers' welfare.
The vegan cheese guide has an in-depth section which looks at the issues and what brands are doing about sourcing ethical cashews.
Coconut milk
Food miles
Coconuts tend to be grown in places like India, Indonesia, and the Philippines - far away from the UK.
Farmer poverty
Coconuts are largely grown by smallholders, and tree crops grown in the poorer parts of the world are often associated with poverty (cocoa is another example).
One reason is that the crops take years to establish, and once farmers have invested in them, they have no choice but to keep harvesting them, even if they’re receiving very little money for their coconuts. This tends to lead to low prices, and most coconut farmers are very poor.
Fairtrade, with its floor price and a price premium, was partly designed to help with this issue, but there are no Fairtrade coconut milk brands available at present.
Monkey labour
Animal rights group PETA told us that monkeys were being abused in the Thai coconut industry, saying “terrified young monkeys are chained up, taught to obey through abuse and intimidation, and forced to climb trees to pick coconuts used to make canned coconut milk”.
Glebe Farm and Rude Health did not publish information on their coconut sourcing, but all other brands had statements against the use of monkey labour or didn’t source from Thailand.
Whichever brand you buy from, it’s unlikely you’re drinking coconut made from monkey labour. Professor Vincent Nijman at Oxford Brookes University says monkey labour is confined usually to small farms catering to local consumption, rather than for export, and PETA’s campaign focuses heavily on the thicker canned coconut milk rather than cartons.
PETA says ASDA and Co-op have stopped sourcing their own-brand coconut milk from Thailand, and hopes the Thai government will take action against monkey labour when it “realises its coconuts are internationally shunned in favour of products from countries with animal-friendly alternatives.”
PETA is calling for a boycott of tinned coconut milk from Thailand, so check the label and search to see if the brand has a statement about monkey labour before buying.
Oat milk
Oats are more likely to be grown closer to home – in Europe, or even the UK. They use less water than many other alternatives and are unlikely to be linked to deforestation.
Pea milk
Pea milk (often made from yellow split peas) is an excellent option if you value low water and land use, and low carbon emissions. Peas can be grown in Europe, so are less likely to have crossed oceans to get in your milky brew. As a legume, peas can help make soil richer and require less fertiliser than many other crops used for plant milk.
The Good Pea Co. uses yellow split peas sourced from Europe and is about to launch its new powdered product. Sproud sources its peas from France.
Soya milk
Soya is associated with deforestation in South America. But only a fraction of the soya grown globally is used to make soya milk. More than 96% of soya from South America ends up as animal feed or cooking oil.
To minimise the risk that the soya you are drinking is associated with deforestation, it is good to look for a company that sources it from outside South America.
The brands that sell soya milk received the following scores in our soya sourcing rating:
Companies' soya policies
Soya policies of the brands in this guide which sell soya milk (listed A to Z by brand)
| Soya milk brand |
Soya rating out of 100 |
All soya organic? |
European soya only? |
Only sources from countries where deforestation risk is low? |
Does this apply to the whole company group? |
| Alpro |
0 |
No |
No |
Yes |
No. Parent Danone sells lots of dairy and doesn’t prohibit use of soya in animal feed. |
| Glebe Farm |
80 |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Plamil |
100 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Plenish |
100 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes. Parent company Britvic lacks a strong policy but is unlikely to source much soya. |
| Rude Health |
50 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No. Owner Valio prohibits use of soya animal feed in its Finnish dairies. However, it appears
to source dairy from other countries too, including Estonia,
and no statement about these. |
| Sojade |
50 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No. Owner Olga sells dairy and didn’t say whether its animals were given soya feed. |
Plant milk brands that don’t sell soya milk but are owned by companies that are likely to use lots of soya or dairy, also lost marks in our soya rating.
Plamil began in 1956 as the Plantmilk Society (and thus the contraction to Plamil) and was founded by a vice-president of the British Vegan Society. It was one of the first widely available soya milks, so has a long legacy.
