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Going plant based with Plenish Barista M*lks

Trialling Plenish Barista M*lk

Coffee shop culture is thriving in the UK, with 80% of visitors visiting at least once a week and 16% visiting daily.1

Over half of UK adults see premium coffee as an affordable luxury,2 and the barista milk alternatives segment has grown by 21.8% in the past year alone.3

Plenish has spent the last few years developing its Barista M*lks recipe, to help outlets cater to those customers looking for milk alternatives in cafés and coffee shops, without any compromise on the quality or taste of the final coffee serve. 

We let Barista, Amy try it for herself, take a look...

What did Amy make of Plenish Barista M*lks?

 

Did you know the products before? What drinks did you trial them with?

Amy: I was familiar with the brand and some of the products as I've used them at home, so was aware of the quality of the product already. For the trial, we made a selection of our most popular drinks using the different alternative milks to compare them to our existing products and to see if any particular milks complimented certain drinks. 

What were your overall impressions of the products tested?

Amy: I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the products. As I am usually a dairy drinker, it was great to push myself out of my comfort zone, especially as I wouldn't usually try milks such as almond or soya. It was also great to use an oat milk that uses gluten free oats as this is often asked in the café by our customers!

If you were to advise a barista on using these products, what would you say to them? Any recipe tips?

Amy: The milks steam beautifully so don't be afraid to give them a go! The milks are subtle in flavour so would work well with most coffees and drinks. 

To what extent is it necessary for barista to keep trying new products and why?

Amy: For us, it's super important to keep up with trends and trending products, which is why it's important for us to be on the look out to test new products, recipes, etc. We are also always striving to achieve the highest quality we can, and if there are products that can help us achieve this we are always willing to give them a go.

What's the opportunity?

Plenish Barista opens up a significant opportunity in the hospitality sector where 90% of consumers say they want their plant-based milk to have a clean label. That’s why Plenish spent two years perfecting the barista recipes to deliver a silky, micro-foam that complements coffee aromas.

With over 50,000 hospitality outlets across the UK, the barista segment is continuing to drive the plant-based milk category forward. This growth demonstrates consumer appetite for specialist products in this area and marks the importance of Plenish expanding with an option free from added oils or acidity regulators.

Why Plenish?

  • Crafted to create coffee with a silky micro-foam
  • UK’s only barista milk free from added oils and additives
  • Only organic ingredients
  • We only use 100% natural ingredients; Gluten-free British oats, Spanish Almonds and French Soya.

Try Plenish Barista for free

Transform your coffee with Plenish Barista M*lks and try a free case today. Choose from Almond, Soya or Oat.

Get your free trial case

FAQs

Acidic coffee can sometimes cause the ingredients within plant-based milk to curdle. Heating speeds up this process. Barista milk has been created to use in coffee so it doesn’t separate and creates a silky micro-foam on the top of your coffee. Plenish’s Barista range uses 100% natural ingredients, unlike other brands that use added oils, additives and gums in their formula. We’re actually the UK’s only Barista range free from added oils and additives.

Gives the milk a thicker, creamier texture so it froths. With extensive research and testing, we’ve proved that plant-based milks don’t need these nasty ingredients to make a silky micro-foam.

Oils and gums in the milk can alter the flavour, and too much in your diet can cause bloating.

Through years of extensive research and testing. The properties needed to make barista milks are inherent to these natural ingredients. Therefore we fine-tuned amounts/ratios, instead of using refined ingredients.

Our whole range is actually gluten free, it's just that we're only allowed to call it 'gluten-free' when people expect it to have gluten in it, i.e. oats.

Our Almond and Soya Barista milk are low in sugar. 1.3g per 100ml (Almond) and 1.5g (Soya). Our Oat milk contains fewer grams of sugar than our competitors, but we can't claim it's 'low in sugar'.

1  Coffee Consumption Statistics UK 2025

2 Mintel Coffee UK 2022

​3 NielsenIQ RMS, Total Coverage, Dairy Alternatives exc. RTD & Flavoured & Private Label (as defined by Britvic), Value Sales, MAT Data we. 1.7.23

4 CGA by NielsenIQ Brand Track April 2022