Muesli and breakfast cereal specialist Rude Health is entering the milk alternatives category
An initial range of Oat, Brown Rice and Almond variants will hit shelves in June.
All three milks are organic, made with mountain spring water, and are unsweetened – “no agave or ‘natural’ sweeteners” – making the recipes different to anything else on the market says band owner Nick Barnard.
Barnard says Rude Health is applying the brand principles of using only pure, natural ingredients, with minimum processing and no artificial ingredients. He told Natural Products: “The dairy-free category tends to feel a bit medicalised. We wanted to create a range of products that you could actually look forward to drinking – not feel you had to drink.”
Rude Health claims the new range offers a healthier nutritional proposition too. “The Oat and Brown Rice drinks – and we think we’re first to market with a brown rice milk alternative – are both whole grain, for example. The range is also free of the additives, sweeteners and fillers used to bulk out some products in the free-from category. You can usually get a feel for the true health credentials of a product by counting the number of ingredients – ours top out at about five”.
Barnard believes the new range tastes sufficiently good to offer an alternative to fruit juices and drinks. “Our milks taste great and when they chilled they’re just a lovey cool drink – so they’re a very healthy alternative to the sugar-loaded fruit juices and smoothies out there. They are also great for accompanying hot drinks, cereals, for baking and for cooking.”
The three-product-strong range goes into Planet Organic, Waitrose and independents in June.
