The plant-based dairy alternatives category has been growing for years and shows no signs of slowing down. At the Natural Products Expo West show in Anaheim last week, plant-based food and drink were some of the hottest products on display.
Plant-based products took home the show-sponsored Nexty Awards in Best New Organic Beverage and Best New Sweet or Dessert, and there were vegan debuts of everything from alternatives to milk, ice cream, cheeses and creamers, to dips and smoothies.
Leading the hemp charge
Elmhurst has been planning a hemp alternative creamer for several months to pair alongside its nut and grain milk alternatives and protein shakes. The Original Unsweetened Hemp Creamer is made with four ingredients, including hemp and natural flavors. It contains 350mg of Omega-3 ALA per serving and has no added sugar, gums or oils.
Peter Truby, VP of marketing at Elmhurst, told DairyReporter at Expo West that the creamer was being received well by consumers, and the company has plans to expand the line to a wide range of flavors like its nut ‘milks.’
“Elmhurst 1925 is passionate about leading the plant-based milk category with on-trend innovation, and given the explosive growth of the hemp category, we’re excited to announce the industry’s first hemp creamer,” Truby said.
Elmhurst sources the product from hemp grown on its own fields in western New York. It uses its signature HydroRelease method that makes all its other products.
According to Elmhurst, “this process separates the components of a nut, grain or seed before reassembling them as a creamy, beverage-ready emulsion, maintaining the full nutrition of the source ingredient without added gums or emulsifiers.”
Hemp Creamer, per 2tbsp serving
Nutrition: 25 calories, 0g sugar, 2.5g total fat, 3mg calcium, 140mg potassium, 0mg sodium, 0g carbohydrate, 0g protein
Ingredients: hemp cream (filtered water, hemp seeds), 2% or less of dipotassium phosphate, natural flavors
Unsweetened Milked Oats, per 8oz serving
Nutrition: 80 calories, 1g sugar, 1.5g total fat, 18mg calcium, 94mg potassium, 120mg sodium, 14g carbohydrate, 4g protein
Ingredients: filtered water, whole grain oats, salt
A customer-driven portfolio
An unsweetened version of Elmhurst’s Milked Oats also launched at Expo West, created based on customer request. It’s made with water, salt and oats with 20g of whole grains. It sources the oats from the Red River Valley of Manitoba, Canada.
Elmhurst’s portfolio already includes Original varieties of Milked Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Hazelnuts, Peanuts and Oats; and Unsweetened varieties of Milked Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts and Hazelnuts. It also has Barista Brown Rice, Barista Almond and Barista Oat ‘milks’ and two peanut-based protein shakes in Chocolate and Vanilla.
The new products are launching this month online and at nationwide retailers like Whole Foods, Wegmans and Publix. Hemp Creamer is sold in 16oz cartons and the Unsweetened Milked Oats will mirror Elmhurst’s other ‘milk’ drinks and be in 32oz cartons.
