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10 Best Milk Alternatives You Should Know About
These are the most ethical vegan milk brands
Plant-based milks have soared in popularity over the past few years, with a quarter of the UK’s population now enjoying a glass of the white stuff on a daily basis.
According to the Vegan Society, the plant milk market will be valued at approximately £498,717,630 ($705.3 million) by 2025 – which is double its 2019 value. Meanwhile, brands like Alpro, Oatly and Plenish have now become a mainstay for supermarkets and our favourite coffee shops given our growing love for dairy-free alternatives in our flat whites.
When it comes to sustainability, while several plant based milks have their pros and cons (as when any crop is mass produced), it's widely believed they're more environmentally sustainable than dairy. A study conducted in 2018 by the University of Oxford looked into the environmental footprint offood and drink, including plant-based milks. Their later findings showed that oat, soy, rice and almond milk are responsible for approximately a third of the emissions dairy milk produces (more on this below).
With retailers and brands falling over themselves to satisfy our vegan needs, we wanted to find out which ones offered the most ethical choice.
Best milk alternatives
- Joint best almond milk: Plenish Organic Almond M*lk 1L
- Joint best almond milk: Rude Health Almond Drink 1L
- Best oat milk: Minor Figures Organic Oat M*lk
- Best coconut milk: Alpro Coconut Long Life Milk
- Best gluten-free oat milk: Planet Organic Unsweetened Gluten-Free 16% Oat Drink
- Best whole milk replacement: Rebel Kitchen Dairy Free Organic Mylk
- Best certified-organic soya milk: Provamel Organic Soya Drink Sweetened
- Best light coconut milk: Innocent Coconut Drink Dairy Free
- Best low-calorie almond milk: Califia Unsweetened Almond Milk
- Best soya milk dairy replacement: Bonsoy Soya Milk
Which plant-based milk is the most sustainable?
Nutritionally not a lot trumps cow’s milk (although soy comes close). However, when it comes to environmental factors, it’s widely agreed that most milk alternatives are better for the planet than dairy.
Environmentally, oats and soy require a fraction of the water and land needed to produce cow’s milk, so there’s less methane to contend with. For maximum benefits, choose a brand using certified-organic ingredients.
Almond milk may feel like a safe alternative, but requires more water to make than both soy and oats (however less than cow’s dairy). In addition, the trees rely on bees to pollinate them — which are drafted in in huge quantities, with many sadly dying as a result.
Ok, so how about coconuts? The key here is to keep a close eye on where the fruit is sourced. Fairtrade is best, but at the very least ensure the brand is using sustainably sourced means (and never relying on monkeys to harvest).
So while there’s no definitive answer, we’re confident that these are some of the tastiest and most ethical brands to choose from.
You’ll never look at a pint of the white stuff in the same way again...
How we test
To find the best milk alternatives, we lined up 23 almond, oat, soya and coconut milks to see how they tasted. Once we’d picked our favourites, these were narrowed down further, based on their environmental and ethical claims. So whether you prefer to start your day with organic overnight oats, or B-corp-certified banana smoothie, we’ve found the plant-based milk for you.
Working with small, sustainable farmers, Plenish selects the highest quality organic almonds before soaking them in filtered water to create a creamy paste. Finished with a pinch of salt, this drink is as pure and simple as making it yourself at home, minus the leaky muslin cloth.
Despite Pepsico owning a small percentage, Rude Health is still a small London-based brand and in line with the rest of the range, this naturally sweet almond milk is organic, containing nothing artificial or refined. It smells delicious and tastes as fresh as can be.
If you’re looking for a brand to replace your beloved Oatly this is it. A bottle produces 0.47kg of CO2e — but as a carbon-neutral company, this is offset on your behalf, so your net impact on the environment is zilch.
It’s every bit as 'oaty' (in fact it contains 12% of EU-certified organic oats vs Oatly’s 10%), and our panel confirmed it foams perfectly, with a delicious salty-sweet taste that works a treat in both hot and cold drinks.
When trying to shop ethically, it’s worth looking out for the B-corp seal of approval. Alpro is one of the first UK food and drink brands to achieve 'outstanding' status (up from 'great' in 2020). The reclassification is the result of ongoing environmental commitments, including a reduction in carbon emissions and water usage.
We loved the smooth and creamy texture, and appreciated that this coconut drink has been fortified with vitamins B12 (a nutrient that is normally only found in animal products), and D (needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy).
Planet Organic Unsweetened Gluten-Free 16% Oat Drink 1L
As one of the first-ever shops to be certified organic by the Soil Association, Planet Organic’s own-brand, gluten-free oat milk is an excellent choice if you’d like to support sustainable farming. It contains the highest percentage of oats from any drink we tried, is naturally sweet (despite the only other ingredients being water and sunflower oil) and has a versatile cow’s milk consistency, making it a great all-rounder.
Using coconuts responsibly sourced from sustainable farms in the Philippines and Sri Lanka, Rebel Kitchen’s blue top is designed to replace whole milk. As such you’ll need to give it a good shake before pouring, to smooth out the creamy lumps (it’s a game-changer in porridge!). And as a B-corp-certified brand you can rest easy knowing ethics are at the forefront of what it does.
Provamel is the first 100% organic soya range in the UK, using apple concentrate to sweeten the deal (not that you can taste it). It’s a little grainy so we prefer it over granola, rather than in our coffee.
Innocent is on a mission to become carbon neutral by 2030, and in the meantime it gives 10% of its plant-based profits to charity. The coconuts for this deliciously light drink are sustainably sourced and it also contains calcium-rich seaweed for added nutritional omph. It’s another B-corp-certified brand we approve of, with a whole host of sustainable practises in place.
California is home to the vast majority of almond production, however it’s a thirsty crop. Califia has managed to reduce the water needed to make each bottle, and works closely with growers to protect its bees — without which the trees would remain un-pollinated.
Bonsoy has been making soya milk since the 1980s. The stripy little cartons contain organic Japanese soy beans (although the brand isn’t officially certified organic), and tastes so similar to regular cow’s milk, we had to triple check the label.
Stacey looks after all food and drink reviews — from coffee pods and veg boxes, to natural wine and tequila. Stacey is also founder of Crummbs, where she’s written nearly 2,000 restaurant and hotel reviews since 2013. Prior to this, Stacey wrote hundreds of in-depth buying guides for the Independent, i newspaper and BBC Good Food, as well as reviewing restaurants and interviewing celebrities in her column at Balance Magazine. Stacey has also appeared in BAFTA-nominated BBC documentary Blood, Sweat & Takeaways, where she investigated South East Asia's food production industry, appearing on both Newsnight and BBC World Service to share her findings. Regularly checking out the latest restaurants, bars and product launches, Stacey also loves experimenting with recipes at home, and is a WSET-certified wine and spirits expert, with over 10 years of experience in the business. You can follow Stacey on Instagram @crummbs_uk
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