Plant-based milks: reasons to buy among U.S. consumers Q4 2015

This statistic presents the results of a survey conducted among 2,500 BerryCart users in the United States in Q4 2015. U.S. survey respondents were asked for their reasons to buy plant-based milks. Some 68 percent cited the taste as the main reason for buying plant-based milks.

Plant-based milks

For centuries, people all over the world have been drinking plant-based milks, both as conventional beverages and as substitutes for dairy milk. Popular varieties include soy milk, almond milk, rice milk and coconut milk. Traditionally consumed by vegans and individuals with certain dietary restrictions, plant-based food was named as a leading trend in the United States in 2016. Industry experts predicted that these "alternatives" could capture the mainstream market.

In 2015, U.S. consumers considered plant-based milk to be healthier (65 percent of survey respondents) and more humanely produced (41 percent) than its dairy counterpart. On the other hand, less than a quarter of these respondents stated that they were lactose-intolerant or followed a non-dairy diet.

In 2014, almost one-third of U.S. households purchased or consumed plant-based beverages. During this period, plant-based milks accounted for approximately 7.5 percent of U.S. retail category sales.

The WhiteWave Foods Company, one of the largest global plant-based food corporations, generated more than half of U.S. plant-based beverage category sales in 2015. The company was also that year's leading vendor of almond milk nationwide. In the same year, U.S. sales of WhiteWave Foods' ready-to-drink almond milk brand, Silk Pure Diamond amounted to roughly 405 million U.S. dollars.