May 3, 2021
Oat milk start-up Bevry is trying to be the oat milk anthem ‘Oatly of India’ with a new product development pipeline that includes a soon-to-be-launched cold brew coffee series. The company asserts to be the first brand in India to manufacture and sell oat milk in the country.
The company was established in 2019 by three co-founders, who were studying in Australia at that time. It was around the same time that Oatly entered Australia, capturing much interest for its oat milk beverages.
Bevry’s co-founder Pradeep Sanker informed that the company has taken Sweden’s Oatly as motivation. According to Sanker, the plant-based dairy alternative market was growing in India, where plant-based milk made from soy, rice, and hazelnut were popular, but the oat milk market was relatively untouched.
Oat milk is much more intricate than other milk alternatives, in terms of manufacturing. So Bevry sought to capitalize on this trend in India, spending about 10 months on R&D before officially launching in November 2020.
It currently retails three oat milk products in original, chocolate, and vanilla variations. Bevry is set to launch a cold brew coffee series with oat milk later this month, comprising four SKUs of classic (original), vanilla latte, mocha, and hazelnut.
Sanker said that their oat milk has a creamy texture and coffee is very intense so combining both will give a frothy, comforting feeling.
Bevry is also working on expanding the product range to include ready-to-eat oatmeal, oat yogurt, and dried fruits which will be launched at the end of the year. The biggest challenges during its R&D was developing a product with good stability and shelf life. The firm initially started out with a shelf life of just 10 days, but quickly realized a longer shelf life was needed, especially in India where logistics require a longer period of time.
They eventually settled on a nine-month shelf life through the use of retort process, without the need for added preservatives.
In addition, Sanker said the minerals present in the oat milk such as dipotassium phosphate help achieve stability. Bevry’s oat milk beverages are made from oat milk (water, oats 10%), sunflower oil, and minerals.
The oats from sourced from Australia, while other ingredients are obtained from India locally. Bevry’s oat milk can be stored at ambient temperature, or refrigerated, depending on the facilities available in the retail store. The firm also worked on the texture of oat milk, to better cater to the local palate.
Most imported oat milk products have a watery mouthfeel, while Indian consumers tend to prefer a thicker texture.
Sanker said, “We wanted our products to be smoother and creamier, because the Indian palate enjoys a heavier texture, especially in their beverages.” Take the example of commonly consumed drinks in India like yogurt-based lassi, which is similar to a milkshake in texture. Bevry is targeting the tier one population with its oat milk, along with vegetarians, vegan, dairy or nut intolerant people. “Everybody needs to have access to products like this which is nutritionally good, affordable and better for the environment.
Bevry’s oat milk is packaged in glass bottle, which can be recycled. The products are available on Bevry’s online store and most online grocery platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, VeganDukan, VeganMall, LBB (Little Black Book) and BigBasket. They are also sold in hospitals and soon to retail in supermarket chain Nature’s Basket.