Cutting the carbon footprint of oat milk

MYOM

This 'just add water' premix makes oat milk easier and greener to transport

Spotted: Global food miles generate three gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions, or almost 20 per cent of total food system emissions. Heavier and bulkier products take more energy to ship, meaning fridge staples like milk and juice cartons are particularly emissions-intensive to move. Now, MYOM may have a solution.

Approximately 90 per cent of milk is water, meaning that most of the energy (and emissions) spent transporting milk around the world is actually spent transporting water. Instead, MYOM – which stands for ‘Make Your Own Milk’ – removes the bulk of this water content, so that the equivalent of a one-litre carton of oat milk fits in a 130-gram recyclable pouch containing an oat milk premix.

At home, customers simply pour the premix into a bottle along with a litre of tap water (or 500 millilitres, if using one of the smaller 65-gram pouches) and shake to combine. Customers can either buy MYOM pouch refills and use their own bottle, or purchase full starter kits, which include a screw-top glass bottle. Because MYOM is long-life, it doesn’t need to be refrigerated during transportation – and customers can store their pouches in the cupboard until they’re ready to be mixed and used.

The idea for MYOM began when Founder Mike Curtis was living in the Middle East, and his son developed a lactose intolerance. While struggling to find milk alternatives there, Curtis also grew more frustrated by unsustainable practices within the food system of the region. Unlike the UK’s traditional milk floats, an anecdote in Dubai was that its milk round consisted of a “747 that comes in every morning from Belgium,” Curtis shared with Springwise.

According to the company, its approach means the carbon footprint of its oat premix is about half the size of other plant-based milks and less than a fifth of the size of dairy. But as well as offering a more sustainable product, Curtis was also committed to developing an offering that was competitive in terms of nutrition. As well as being fortified with vegan-friendly vitamins D3 and B12 and iodine, MYOM also contains more calcium than dairy milk.

Moving forward, MYOM is working on expanding its range to include barista, sugar-free, fat-free, gluten-free, and organic products, as well as potentially a dairy-identical premix made using precision fermentation. And as well as continuing to optimise the performance and sustainability of MYOM packaging, Curtis shared that the company is working with a number of retailers and distributors to help make MYOM products as accessible as possible.

Written By: Matilda Cox