Potatoes have been poshed-up before – Walker’s Sensations, Burt’s Chips and luxury mash amongst the spud upgrades, potato milk is about to go posh too – with DUG’s introduction into Waitrose from February 2020.

Article reposted from The Guardian. 26.010.21

‘Supermarket’s latest addition tipped to challenge dominance of oat, almond and soy alt-milks.’

“Britons already eat potatoes boiled, baked, roasted and mashed but now the humble spud is being milked for all its worth, with potato milk set to be the next big thing.

It is tipped as a challenger to big selling alt-milks made from oats, almonds and soy, with the supermarket Waitrose predicting consumers will soon be adding it to their shopping trolley or ordering potato milk lattes in coffee shops.

Sales of plant milk are booming in the UK with the market now worth about £400m a year as Britons reduce their consumption of animal products. In recent years the buzz has been around oat milk, thanks to the success of the fashionable Swedish brand Oatly, but in its annual food and drink report Waitrose predicts that “now it is the turn of the potato”.


The product has been through extensive trials and is proven not to split or curdle in hot drinks, so it’s an ideal choice for coffee shops and restaurants wanting to give consumers a really sustainable new option. Credit: Per Slagbrand.

Alice Shrubsall, the supermarket’s alternative milk buyer, said more people were incorporating plant-based milks in their diet, whether that involved a “splash of oat milk in their morning coffee or a coconut milk hot chocolate in the afternoon”. In response to the growing interest being shown by consumers, she said the retailer was planning to expand its alt-milk range to include potato milk.

In February, Waitrose will start stocking the Swedish potato milk brand Dug which is owned by the startup Veg of Lund. Dug claims to be the most sustainable alt-milk on the market with its formula based on research by Prof Eva Tornberg at Lund University. It says the potato milk tastes delicious and creamy, and it has also created a foaming barista version that “won’t ever separate in your coffee or tea”.

The Waitrose report, which is based on analysis of its sales data for the past 12 months as well as a poll of 2,000 consumers, also points to the rise of a new diet regime it calls “climatarianism”. Nearly 70% of those surveyed said the carbon footprint of their food was either “very” or “somewhat” important to them. A “5:2” diet, which involves eating vegetarian meals five days a week, was also becoming more popular.”