Raw Sport Survey: ‘Over 70% Of Our 50K Customers Are Removing Animal Dairy From Their Diets Entirely’

According to a study by plant-based nutrition brand Raw Sport, over 70% of their customers, new and existing, are completely removing animal dairy from their diets owing to reasons such as dairy being linked to ill-health, global warming and animal cruelty.

London-based Raw Sport surveyed 50,000 customers and revealed that 72% of them have said they are now completely following an entirely dairy-free diet. Respondents gave several reasons for ditching dairy, with the top factors being the negative impact that dairy has on health, climate and the environment and the cruelty inflicted on animals in the dairy industry.

Separate research by non-profit organisation GRAIN exposed that the leading 10 biggest dairy corporations in the world produce carbon emissions that are equivalent to half of France’s total carbon output, and apart from the GHGs they release, conventional dairy farming lowers soil fertility, pollutes waters and uses an enormous amount of land.

Since 2015, in the U.S. alone, a 6% drop in overall milk consumption has been recorded. In fact, owing to costs of raw dairy milk continuously rising and the fact that the plant-based industry is supporting consumers to transition from traditional dairy to vegan versions made from either coconut, oats or cashews, America’s largest milk producer Dean Foods and another giant dairy producer and distributor Borden Dairy were forced to file for bankruptcy.

Even in New Zealand, dairy giant Fonterra has experienced severe losses as data from Mintel shows that sales of the plant-based milk industry in the country is soaring by over 24%.

In the Raw Sport survey, consumers cited other reasons to abstain from dairy such as being lactose intolerant as well as the realization that whey protein is a by-product of cheese.

In a press release seen by Green Queen, founder of Raw Sport Dean Howell said that the data clearly shows that there is a new trend brewing among consumers. “We are in the midst of a ‘transition revolution’. A growing number of consumers don’t want to jeopardise their health, the environment or pay for animal exploitation when they purchase nutritional products. I have no doubt that plant-based protein powders will overtake whey protein within the next 10 years.”

A growing number of consumers don’t want to jeopardise their health, the environment or pay for animal exploitation when they purchase nutritional products. I have no doubt that plant-based protein powders will overtake whey protein within the next 10 years

Dean Howell, founder of Raw Sport

Howell added: “We are proud to be a 100% vegan brand, offering high-quality ingredients that benefit our customers and planetary health, without involving animals in any way. Plants give us all we need to thrive – there’s no need to get protein from any animal sources, especially from dairy. We are calling on all nutrition brands to join us and ditch dairy from their product ranges. Together, we can protect consumer health, our climate and animals. Just look at the data assessing the impact of dairy – it’s undeniable.”

Even dairy farmers are recognizing the negative impacts of traditional dairy, for instance, Jay and Katja Wilde of U.K.-based Bradley Nook Farm shifted away from their dairy farm operations to now manufacture sustainable plant-based alternative oat milk in reusable bottles with Refarm’d that helps farmers fit into the plant-based dairy industry.

Read: Here’s how livestock & dairy farmers are making the sustainable leap

Sales of oat milk, in particular, have grown by a whopping 636% between 2018 and 2019 alone. Even oat brands for instance, including pioneer Oatly, are expanding across the world and owing to the increasing demand from consumers, with the latter now valued at over US$12 billion.

Apart from this, Raw Sport has partnered with tree-planting and climate action funder Ecologi to unveil a new tree-planting initiative that will ensure that for every product it sells, a tree is planted and since its launch in February, over 20,000 trees have been planted with an aim to plant more than 100,000 trees in total before the end of 2021.

Instead of ensuring 1 tree for 1 order, the brand plants trees according to how many products are purchased for instance, one order of three bags of its ELITE Repair Protein Powder means that three trees will be planted.

Lead image courtesy of Shutterstock.