Plant-based milk had a strong 52-week period, rising 5.1% overall for the 52 weeks ending June 12, according to Chicago-based IRI.
Refrigerated oat milk demonstrated strong growth with sales of $454.3 million, increasing nearly 53% year over year compared to the prior year period. Unit sales rose 47% to 115.6 million, according to IRI.
Under the oat milk subcategory, Planet Oat, Oatly, Chobani, Califia Farms, Simply, and Malk all enjoyed year-over-year sales gains of at least 50%.
Refrigerated kefir also enjoyed a robust 52-week period, with total sales coming in at $107.3 million, a 7% increase during the same period ending June 2021. Among the sales gainers in this category were Kalona Super Natural, up 85% year over year; Forager Project, up 59%; and Five Acre Farms, rising 32%.
Sales of ready-to-drink (RTD) coconut milk totaled $176 million, rising 1.1% for the same timeframe. However, unit sales declined by 9% to 77.3 million, per IRI data.
Enjoying the best year in RTD coconut sales were Kuji, up 42% year over year; Caribbean Dreams, up 39%; and Savia, up 31%.
On the flip side, refrigerated and RTD almond milks, refrigerated and RTD soy milks and refrigerated milk shakes/non-dairy drinks all saw low single-digit declines for the 52-week period ending June 12. For instance, in the refrigerated almond milk subcategory, sales declined by 2.2% to $1.5 billion. Unit sales dropped 5% to 455 million.
However, some brands celebrated steady double-digit growth. Mooala, Malk, Three Trees, Beber, New Barn, and Generous Provisions all generated sales increases of more than 20% year over year, according to IRI data.
Looking in-depth at RTD almond milk, sales declined nearly 3% to $98 million. Unit sales dropped 5% to 33.6 million. Showing strength in this subcategory during the 52-week period were Silk, Elmhurst, Califia Farms, and Mooala, all seeing upward growth of at least 13% compared to the prior year.
Soy milk had a tougher year than its almond milk brethren. Refrigerated soy milk sales dropped 7% to $151.7 million, while RTD soy milk sales, from a much smaller base, declined by 9% to $14 million for the 52 weeks ending June 12.
Unit sales for refrigerated and RTD soy milks didn’t fare much better, declining 10% to 46.8 million and 20% to 4.38 million, respectively. However, there were a few bright spots in the RTD soy milk subcategory. Kikkoman, Vitasoy, and Kimbo all experienced sales gains verus the prior year.
Lastly, in the refrigerated milk shakes/non-dairy drinks category, sales dropped by 10% to $30.7 million year over year. Unit sales decreased a larger 13 percent vs. the prior year to 12.3 million. There was good news to be found in this category however. Borden saw sales rise 15%; Don Jose, up 37%; Forager Project experienced a 20% gain; Sarris Candies up 44%; Shamrock, up 20%; and Kerns saw a 25% increase.
But the clear winners in the category were Turners, up 430%; Milk Magic, up 7,975%; and Shaka Laka, up 309%, who all had robust sales years, reported IRI.
