NZ’s First Dedicated Plant-based Milk Manufacturing Facility To Meet Skyrocketing Demand For Alternative Milks

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Free Flow Manufacturing, a leading New Zealand beverage manufacturer, today announced it will open New Zealand’s first dedicated state-of-the-art plant-based milk manufacturing facility this year to satisfy New Zealand’s rapidly growing thirst for alternative milks.

The new facility represents a significant capex investment for the company and will be capable of producing 50 million litres of the highest quality plant-based milks annually. This will include a partnership to produce plant milk for foundation client — New Zealand’s original oat milk brand — Otis, enabling the Otago company to return manufacturing of its popular oat milks from Sweden to New Zealand.

Free Flow Manufacturing co-founder Scott Day said the demand for plant-based milk alternatives has skyrocketed in recent years, outpacing traditional dairy milk, with no sign of slowing. “Grocery spending on plant-based milks in New Zealand increased by 44 percent from 2019 to the end of 2022, with sales jumping from $61 million to $88 million,” said Day.

“Despite this, New Zealand has had to rely on mainly imported products or those manufactured overseas to meet this demand. The launch of our new plant-based milk facility in East Auckland is an important milestone for the sector, enabling it to reduce its carbon footprint, improve innovation and produce premium products locally for health-conscious consumers worldwide.”

When the facility opens its doors later this year, Otis oat milk will be the first product to roll off the production line. This marks the culmination of a four-year search by its founders for a local manufacturing partner capable of producing its recipe to world-class standards.

Otis co-founders Tim Ryan and Chris Wilkie said they have been on a mission to return to making their oat milk in New Zealand ever since they launched in Lincoln, Canterbury, as the very first New Zealand oat milk brand in 2018.

“As we scaled up our production, we weren’t prepared to compromise on quality, and because of this, we’ve had to ship our New Zealand oats to Sweden for manufacture due to the lack of a local partner that has the technology required to produce premium oat milks to the gold-standard we demand.

“The journey has been long and hard and has involved seven feasibility studies over eight different sites across Aotearoa, costing a lot of money and years of graft for a small start-up. We’re thrilled to have

finally cracked this with Free Flow and truly believe that New Zealand will be a force to be reckoned with when it comes to producing both dairy and non-dairy milks,” they said.

The new Free Flow Manufacturing plant will be one of the world’s most technically advanced plant-based milk manufacturing facilities. That’s thanks to the involvement of the world’s leading brain on oat milk, Sweden’s Angie Triantafyllou. Referred to as the ‘godmother of modern oat milk’ for her patented innovations, the ex-Oatly founder, now Chairman of the board at Swedish plant-based technology company Cerealiq, has been working with Otis since its inception and has been heavily involved in the development of the new Free Flow facility.

“We know New Zealand produces some of the highest quality oats in the world, and when this facility opens, they’ll be producing arguably the highest quality oat milk in the world, too,” Triantafyllou said. “This new facility will be capable of producing oat milk to world-class standard levels of beta-glucan, which is the nutritional gold ingredient found in premium oat milk, helping the body to maintain healthy cholesterol levels. Otis was the first oat milk maker in New Zealand to use Cerealiq’s patented enzyme technology, and it’s exciting that this technology will now be available in New Zealand for the first time, enabling them to produce the highest quality, nutritious and delicious oat milk in their backyard.”

The new manufacturing facility will be built in line with Free Flow Manufacturing’s journey to earning B Corporation status, which places sustainability at the forefront. It will see Free Flow Manufacturing’s existing footprint expand with an additional 2,500 square metres of production and another 4,000 square metres of warehousing.

And in a world first, the same machinery can be used to produce plant-based milks and brew and process beer. Developed in conjunction with leading German machine manufacturer Krones and brewing technology masters Steinecker, this revolution in manufacturing opens up yet another revenue stream for Free Flow and an opportunity for companies to reduce reliance on imported goods in favour of locally made products.

“This project has been a long time in the making, and we’ve been fortunate to have worked with the best in the business to make it happen,” said Free Flow’s Scott Day. “From New Zealand’s original oat milk innovators, Otis, to the world-class technological innovations offered by Cerealiq, Krones and Steinecker, we can’t wait to hit go. So plant-based milk and beer brands, bring us your recipes and ideas and let us get to it!”

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