Recently introduced, the “deliciously creamy” and capable of producing the “perfect foam” for a homemade latte or cappuccino, the Swedish potato milk brand Dug went on sale in 220 UK Waitrose stores.
In recent years, the consumers’ attention focused on oat milk, thanks to the success of rival Swedish brand Oatly, but in its recent food and drink report, Waitrose predicted that in 2022 it would be “the turn of the potato”.
Waitrose’s alternative milk buyer, Alice Shrubsall, said sales of the products had “gone from strength-to-strength over the past few years”, according to The Guardian.
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“Demand hasn’t slowed in this market and we’re seeing customers become more experimental with their alternative milk choices,” she added.
Produced in the UK, Dug’s ingredients include pea protein and rapeseed oil as well as potato. The Veg of Lund, which owns the Dug brand, described it, as “super sustainable”, under the scrutiny of CarbonCloud, a firm that calculates the climate footprint of foods, to assess its environmental credentials. Dug’s footprint is significantly lower than dairy milk. Growing potatoes is twice as efficient as oat and the crop uses less water than nuts like almonds, the producers say.
Potatoes are a very “niche” ingredient representing on average less than 0.2% of plant milk launches, but high-profile debuts like Dug could change that.
