DIY Dairy: 7 Brands Making Oat Milk Powders for At-Home Use

A host of brands are innovating with oat milk powders in multiple flavours to cut packaging waste and offer personalisation – here are seven of the best.

Oat milk has quickly become the darling of the plant-based milk space, which is by far the biggest money maker in the global vegan food market.

Ever since Oatly took over coffee shops in the 2010s, oat milk has been on a stellar rise. Now, virtually every plant-based milk company has an oat product, since the ingredient has taken over as the bestselling base for alt-dairy in certain markets, and is aiming for almond milk’s throne in the US.

At nearly $3B, milk alone makes up over a third (36%) of the US plant-based market. Within this, almond milk accounts for 56% of the alt-milk market, but its dollar share has fallen by 61% since 2021. Much of this has been captured by oat milk, which accounted for 24% of the segment’s sales last year.

Estimates suggest that oat milk will be a $5.6B market in 2033, with the number of brands and options proliferating all across the world. This has also necessitated diversity in offerings – consumers want cleaner-label, cheaper and versatile products, and brands are coming up with new ways to deliver these attributes.

Liquid oat milk is great, but most of this comes in Tetra Paks and requires a lot of packaging, which in turn amps up the financial and environmental cost of transportation. And since most of the world’s waste doesn’t really get recycled, the post-use cycle leaves a lot to be desired.

Enter oat milk powders. Several companies are making blitzed-up, dehydrated versions of oat milk that you can just add water to, reducing the amount of packaging and shelf space needed, while providing greater customisability. You want an oat cream? Add less water. Do you want a thinner milk that resembles skimmed? Add more.

It also solves a key pain point. Oat milk is one of the toughest plant-based milks to make at home, since the slimy texture puts many consumers off. While there are ways to remove the slime and make a milk that has the desired mouthfeel and flavour, it takes a lot more time and effort, and specialty ingredients that aren’t exactly pantry staples.

While it’s a nascent market and more research is needed to determine the true value of these products, you only have to look at the success of brands that have made oat milk powders their primary offerings, and the fact that traditional oat milk makers have also begun innovating with powdered versions, to know that the demand is there.

Here are seven of the best companies making oat milk powders.

Overherd

Headquarters: London, UK
Founders/parent company: Sandy Eyre
Total funding: Undisclosed

Launched in 2023, Overherd is among the youngest companies in the space, and makes only one thing: powdered oat milk. The product is made up of 68% gluten-free oats, coconut MCT powder, and chicory root fibre, and fortified with calcium carbonate and vitamin B12. It can be shaken, stirred or blended, used as a barista milk, and has fewer calories, fat and sugar than market leaders like Oatly and Alpro. Plus, Overherd uses 90% less packaging and is 10 times lighter.

Mighty

Headquarters: Leeds, UK
Founders/parent company: Tom and Nick Watkins
Total funding: £8M

Mighty originally began as a pea milk company, before expanding into oat and other milks. In early 2023, it brought out a powdered oat milk made up of 90% oats, coconut oil powder, and salt. The company says each pouch makes up to four litres of oat milk, and lasts two years on the shelf. It can be stirred straight into hot tea and coffee, used in baking as you would conventional milk powder, and blended to make liquid oat milk.

JOI

Headquarters: Miami, US
Founders/parent company: Dave Korstad, Isabelle Shu and Tony Jimenez
Total funding: $2M

One of the original new-format alt-milk brands, JOI is well-known for its nut milk pastes. But it recently unveiled an oat milk powder (to great reviews), and true to its name, this contains Just One Ingredient: oats. The JOI powder can be stirred straight into tea and coffee, or blended to make milk (a teaspoon per cup of water is the recommended amount). Each pack can make 8 quarts (7.5 litres) of milk, which lasts up to seven days in the fridge. For the baristas, it has launched a powdered oat milk creamer too.

Nimbus

Headquarters: Sydney, Australia
Founders/parent company: Alexandra Mills
Total funding: Undisclosed

Another 2023-launched company, Nimbus makes two oat milk powders in original and mocha flavours. The plain version contains 93% oats, and is complemented with avocado oil powder, salt, xantham gum and calcium carbonate. The mocha version additionally contains coffee and cocoa powders, and coconut sugar. Once blended, it can be used as a barista milk for frothy drinks, and each pouch makes five litres of milk. The recycled packaging weighs ten times less than cartons too.

Blue Farm

Headquarters: Berlin, Germany
Founders/parent company: Philip von Have and Katia Pott
Total funding: €3M

Blue Farm is a company all about oat milk powders, and has an extensive range to show for it. The core lineup comprises a Pure Oat Base, which contains 100% fermented oats, a calcium-fortified version with red algae, a barista edition with oat beta-glucan and sodium carbonate, as well as cocoa and vanilla flavours. These can be used in a variety of applications – all you need to do is mix two spoons of powder with 200ml of water. Additionally, Blue Farm has various functional lattes like pumpkin, matcha, turmeric, Supreme Greens, and Chagaccino, among others.

EcoMil

Headquarters: Murcia, Spain
Founders/parent company: Nutriops
Total funding: Undisclosed

The oldest brand on this list, EcoMil pioneered this alt-milk format with its almond milk powder in 1991. Now, it’s one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of plant-based milks. Its powdered oat milk contains 56% oats, corn maltodextrin, dehydrated sunflower oil, and vanilla. It comes in 400g tins that can make five litres of milk, and can be used in hot drinks as well as cooking applications.

Oatbedient

Headquarters: Singapore
Founders/parent company: Elaine and Darren Teo
Total funding: Undisclosed

Founded in 2022, Singapore-based Oatbedient began as an oat milk powder company, but has since diversified into liquid milks too. But it’s an outlier in that these ready-to-mix milks are meant to be drunk on their own, since they’re really an alternative to malted milk powders. Its core range includes a plain version (with oat milk powder, malt extract and sugar), a Lite unsweetened version, one with chia seeds, and a chocolate flavour. It has since also introduced latte, mocha and matcha versions. Each pack contains 12 sachets, which need to be mixed with 180ml of hot water.